Prominent Latinos argue for voting districts in Vista

By: EDWARD SIFUENTES - Staff Writer | Saturday, November 29, 2003 9:23 PM PST ∞

Vista received a pass from an in-house committee looking into Latino voter participation when the panel said Monday that the city should keep its at-large voting system.

Vista is the subject of a federal investigation under the Voting Rights Act of 1965, almost certainly because the city has never elected a Latino to its City Council even though Latinos account for about 40 percent of its residents.

But some Latino experts on voting, differing with the mayor-appointed citizen's panel, say the city should be broken into districts because it would make it more likely that a Latino candidate ---- or at least a candidate of the Latino community's choice ---- can be elected.

Based on previous Department of Justice findings, many believe the investigators will order that the city change its electoral process and create neighborhood voting districts for City Council and school board elections. In response to the investigation, the council approved the creation of the Citizen's Advisory Committee on Community Involvement last month to study Latino participation in city elections and make a recommendation to the council on the districting question.

Though the investigation is taking place in Vista, prominent Latinos say the issue has wider implications. As a county, the region has few minority representatives despite large minority populations, particularly in North County cities such as Escondido, San Marcos and Carlsbad.

The path to districts

Experts say the best way of addressing the scarcity of minority representation at the local level is to create majority-minority districts, in which most registered voters in a district are of an ethnic or racial minority.

"We are supporters of the model of single-member districts because it's been effective at increasing minority participation in the electoral process," said Antonio Gonzalez, president of the William C. Velasquez Institute, a leading Latino voting research organization in Los Angeles.

"We're in favor of district elections in which the Latino community forms the majority of a district not to elect Latinos but to elect candidates that the Latino community prefers. The important principal for us is that the minority group that has been historically excluded elects a candidate of its choice," Gonzalez said.

About 35,000 of Vista's 90,000 residents are Latino, according to the 2000 U.S. Census. Many live in a low-income neighborhood in the heart of town, called the Townsite area.

In order to find that the city should be broken up into districts for City Council and school board elections, federal investigators must prove three objectives: that a majority-minority neighborhood district can be formed in the city, that the minority group is voting as a bloc, and that voting by non-Latinos usually defeats the Latino community's choice of candidates.

Latino voters lacking

One of the principal arguments the 15-member citizen's panel made against districting was that there are not enough Latinos registered to vote in the city to constitute a Latino district.

Investigators hired by the city to look into the matter said that of the 34,990 Latinos who live in Vista, only about 4,900 are registered to vote. The low registration often is attributed to a young Latino population, large numbers of noncitizens and voter apathy.

Latino voters make up about 14 percent of the city's 35,800 registered voters. A map of the city's distribution of Latino voters drawn by PRM Consulting, a marketing group studying Latino voting patterns, seems to indicate that large numbers of such voters live in Vista's northwestern neighborhoods, just north of Highway 78.

A majority Latino district would be difficult, but not impossible to form, experts and city officials agree. The question is whether the city is committed to the status quo or to effective Latino participation in the electoral process, said San Diego attorney Mike Aguirre. He has sued the county alleging supervisors violated the Ralph M. Brown Open Meetings Act by making backroom deals to draw districts to their own benefit, diluting the minority vote. He lost that case.

"It's a matter of values," Aguirre said. "If representation is at the top of the city's priorities, then you rearrange to make that a priority. This is an opportunity to either maintain a system that is not fair or to say, 'Let's set an example for the rest of the county.'"

Feds on the march

Aguirre said the Vista investigation is a signal that the Justice Department may be homing in on San Diego County, perhaps looking at the Board of Supervisor seats that are all filled with white Republicans.

Whether the city's Latinos vote as a bloc or whether the non-Latino community effectively defeats the minority's choice of candidates is harder to prove. Several Latino candidates ---- including businessman Frank Lopez, who ran for City Council twice ---- have done well, but have not been elected.

Lopez, a member of the citizen's advisory committee, said he would prefer to be elected in a citywide election and does not favor breaking the city into districts. Part of the reason Lopez said he dislikes districts is because officials elected by district would lack legitimacy.

"I feel from here," he said, placing his right hand over his chest, "that I want to be elected by the people, not by a district."

At Monday's committee meeting, two-thirds of the panel's members said they favored citywide elections. They said districts would be divisive and would not guarantee that a Latino candidate would be elected.

One member said he was undecided. Another said he favored districts because they would ensure Latino representation. Three members were absent.

Inferiority complex

A prominent Latino said recently that the feeling of wanting to be elected by the city as a whole is honorable, but unrealistic.

"That feeling comes from every Latino leader continuously having to prove that they are worthy of a position," said Joe Cordero, vice chairman of the nonprofit San Diego Chicano Federation. "And not being elected at-large implies that they are not legitimate. While I understand it, I don't agree. It borders on internalized racism.

"I think the bottom line is being elected."

The committee, which began its work in October, has heard presentations from sources that include a city-hired demographer, a voting rights attorney, a Latino voting rights activist and members of the community. It has been criticized for not making a greater effort to include the Latino community.

Critics have said the committee has violated open-meetings laws and that it is not representative of the community's views.

Silvia Peters, an outspoken critic, delivered what she said were more than 50 signatures of Latino residents who favored breaking the city into districts.

Fears of status quo

One committee member said he was unsure the committee would be able to address the central issue of Latino voter participation in city elections.

"My issue is that there is a problem; whether the city becomes a district or it stays the same, the core issue is that 40 percent of the population lack representation," said Fidel Cruz, the committee member who was undecided on whether to break the city into districts. ÝÝ

"I'm afraid that what might happen is that the Department of Justice (investigators) don't find a problem and it just goes away," he said.

Aguirre said that the established, at-large election system makes it unlikely that a Latino can be elected because it favors candidates with strong financial backing and strong political connections.

"They are kidding themselves. That's a pipe dream," Aguirre said. "There's a lack of energy in San Diego County politics. We're very reactionary and it's hardening the political arteries because of the lack of minority participation."

Contact staff writer Edward Sifuentes at (760) 740-5426 or esifuentes@nctimes.com.