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Updated with additional meeting in Mountain House. We encourage the public to review maps of the trustee areas; those maps can be accessed here.

STOCKTON — The public is invited to a series of open house events beginning next week to learn about changes to the way in which 188bet±¸ÓÃÍøÖ· College trustees are elected, and to provide comments about the plan.

Each of the seven trustees lives in and represents a particular area of 188bet±¸ÓÃÍøַ’s 2,300-square-mile community college district. However, each trustee is currently elected by voters throughout the district.

Trustees decided last year to transition to area voting, in which voters will cast ballots only for the candidate within their area. The process will also involve evaluating theÌýmaps for each areaÌýand determining whether any changes should be made. The existing maps can be seen here.

Public hearings and multiple open houses will be held before a final decision is made later this year. The goal is to give constituents a chance to learn about the process and provide feedback.

Members of the public may attend any of the upcoming meetings. The first round of open houses has been scheduled as follows:

•ÌýSouth Stockton and Weston RanchÌý(Trustee Jennet Stebbins): 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.ÌýApril 8Ìýat the Edison High School cafeteria, 100 W. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Stockton.

•ÌýTracy, Mountain House and Lathrop west of Interstate 5Ìý(Trustee Teresa Brown): 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.ÌýApril 10Ìýat the Tracy Transit Station, Room 104, 50 E. 6th St., Tracy.

•ÌýNorth and Central StocktonÌý(Trustees Janet Rivera and Carlos Huerta): 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.ÌýApril 11Ìýat the Sierra Middle School cafeteria, 6768 Alexandria Place, Stockton.

•ÌýManteca, Lathrop east of Interstate 5 and portions of the South CountyÌý(Trustee Catherine Mathis): 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.ÌýApril 15Ìýat the Manteca Public Library, 320 W. Center St., Manteca.

•ÌýLodi, Galt and the 188bet±¸ÓÃÍøÖ·Ìý(Trustee Charles Jennings): 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.ÌýApril 15Ìýat the Lodi Public Library, 201 W. Locust St., Lodi.

• Tracy, Mountain House and Lathrop west of Interstate 5Ìý(Trustee Teresa Brown): 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. April 16 at the South Campus at Mountain House, Room 102, 2073 S. Central Parkway, Mountain House.

•ÌýEast S.J. County and CalaverasÌý(Trustee Steve Castellanos): 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.ÌýApril 18Ìýat the Linden High School library, 18527 East Front St., Linden.

Additionally, comments will be accepted at two formal public hearings that have been tentatively scheduled for Board of Trustees’ÌýApril 23Ìý²¹²Ô»åÌýMay 7Ìýmeetings, which begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Board Room in the Horton Administration Building, 5151 Pacific Avenue in Stockton.

That is the first part of the process. Later this spring, a demographer will examine the existing trustee area maps and decide whether any changes are needed under the California Voting Rights Act. At that point, additional open houses and public hearings will be held prior to a final decision by trustees. That decision would then require approval by the California Community Colleges Board of Governors. More information will be released about the second round of meetings at a later date.

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