After a court hearing on Wednesday, a San Luis Obispo County judge ruled a recently approved redistricting map can be used in upcoming elections.
The ruling comes after the recently-formed non-profit SLO County Citizens for Good Government filed a lawsuit against San Luis Obispo County seeking to overturn the redistricting map approved in December.
The "Patten map" was submitted by Arroyo Grande resident Richard Patten. It made significant changes to the county's supervisorial districts, including removing Oceano from District 4 and adding it to District 3, splitting the city of San Luis Obispo into two districts rather than three, and separating Los Osos, Morro Bay, and the Cayucos/Cambria area into three separate districts.
In the lawsuit, the non-profit claimed that the map is a violation of the Fair Maps Act. It accuses the majority of the Board of gerrymandering and argues that no redistricting was required since the county's current district boundaries meet state requirements. Also stating that the map breaks up communities of interest and favors Republican representation.
Following the court hearing Wednesday the judge ultimately decided to side with the county by not issuing the injunction and allowing upcoming elections to use the Patten map.
The non-profit can still pursue the lawsuit in the future.
