Anti Federalist
05-26-2017, 05:19 PM
As near as I can figure this convoluted nonsense out, this firm is suing because many California towns and cities have city wide "at large" voting.
It appears what they are trying to accomplish is to gerrymander towns into districts, so less white people get elected.
Huntington Beach prepared to go to court to keep at-large elections
http://www.ocregister.com/2017/05/25/huntington-beach-prepared-to-go-to-court-to-keep-at-large-elections/
PUBLISHED: May 25, 2017 at 5:11 pm | UPDATED: May 25, 2017 at 5:20 pm
HUNTINGTON BEACH The courthouse could be the next step for city officials, as they prepare to fight a claim that the city is in violation of the California Voting Rights Act, which promotes greater minority representation in elections.
After receiving a letter in April from the Shenkman and Hughes law office that urged Huntington Beach to “voluntarily change its at-large system of electing council members” or face a legal challenge, Huntington Beach is pushing back.
“We are prepared to vigorously defend any lawsuit,” City Attorney Michael Gates wrote in a May 18 response to the letter’s claim the city’s elections were “racially polarizing, resulting in minority vote dilution.”
Attorney Kevin Shenkman called the response “a bizarre combination of confusion and combativeness.”
“I don’t think the letter invited a response,” he said. “Our response will be in the form of a lawsuit.”
Shenkman’s firm is known for successfully challenging and suing cities to adopt district election practices in accordance with the voting rights act.
Vista and Lake Forest have begun the process of switching to district elections after receiving April letters from Shenkman, and other Orange County cities such as Costa Mesa, Placentia and Fullerton voted in November to switch to district representation. In November, San Juan Capistrano held its first district elections after being sued by clients of Shenkman and Hughes. In 2014, Anaheim was the first Orange County city council to settle a suit by switching to district elections. Buena Park and Garden Grove followed suit.
In 2015, the city of Palmdale paid the Shenkman firm $4.5 million in fees and interest to settle a suit before agreeing to district elections.
Passed in 2001, the state act is an expansion of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, intending to make it easier for minority voters to elect representatives of their choosing. Minority groups can claim racial polarization if they are not adequately represented in government or have a history of failed attempts to elect minority candidates.
In his response, Gates refuted the notion that the city’s elections create a “racially polarized” process. Gates noted Thursday he had received unanimous backing from the mayor and City Council in closed session and was prepared to defend the city on an array of fronts, ranging from the city’s demographic diversity to the constitutionality of the voting act as applied to Huntington Beach.
According to 2010 Census data, Huntington Beach’s Latino population was about 17 percent. The city’s website lists it closer to 19 percent. Of the number of eligible voters in the city, only 13 percent are Latino and not concentrated in any particular part of the city, Gates said in his response.
Oak View, a one-square-mile area of about 7,400 residents near Warner Avenue and Nichols Lane, is the best known and most heavily Latino neighborhood in the city.
Victor Valladares, an activist with Oak View ComUnidad, said although he and his group are not a party to a possible suit, it is long overdue.
“I feel there is a lack of representation and double standards,” Valladares said.
“If there were districts they would do something,” he said. “Our votes would be worth something. Voter registration is low here because nothing changes.”
Gates said Huntington Beach is a close-knit city that does not have the demographics to support what he called a “one-size-fits-all” approach employed by Shenkman’s firm.
“The city does not have an extensive history where Latino voters have been disadvantaged,” he said.
Beyond factual disagreements, Gates said “there are also legal arguments where we believe the (voting rights act) has vulnerabilities, and past cases have even discussed that.”
Shenkman said each one of Gates’ arguments has been presented through many levels of court without success. He estimated his firm in the last five years has sent out 40 to 50 letters to cities it believes were violating the act and has gone to court eight times. All but Santa Monica, which could go to trial in October, he said, either have or are now in the process of enacting district voting.
In 2016, Common Cause reported that only 12 percent of California’s 415 cities held district elections, but that calculus has been rapidly shifting.
Unlike the federal Voting Rights Act, the California act does not require plaintiffs to demonstrate a specific geographic district where a minority is concentrated enough to establish a majority. This makes it easier for minority voters to sue local governments. Ethnic voters must have a track record of not being able to elect their preferred candidate.
In its letter to Huntington Beach, Shenkman’s group said in elections in 2014, 2004 and 2002, Latino candidates for City Council were defeated despite “significant support from Latino voters.”
In 2014, Hector “Hek” Valdez, a tattoo artist and political newcomer, finished in ninth place among 11 candidates with 6.3 percent of the vote.
The letter went on to say the Huntington Beach City Council doesn’t appear to have had a Latino member in recent history.
Dave Sullivan, a former two-time mayor who first served on the council in 1992, said he doesn’t remember any Latino members on the council, and few candidates.
Sullivan said he would like to see a member of the Latino community from the Oak View neighborhood get elected, but added that he doesn’t believe districting is the answer.
Ironically, Sullivan said he remembers years ago when the Chamber of Commerce floated the idea of district elections to attract more business-friendly members into government.
In his response, Gates said a lawsuit, if seen through, could lead to unintended consequences and be self-defeating.
“By your lawsuit, you may chart a course to set new uninvited legal precedent that finds the CVR, or portions of it, unconstitutional,” he wrote.
Gates argued there could be basic Constitutional issues at play. He said redistricting by law is a legislative process and shouldn’t be decided by the judiciary.
Shenkman said his office would soon begin its work on filing suit, though he did not have a date. He declined to say who the plaintiff in his case would be.
Gates responded, “We’re going to push back. And we’re going to push back hard.”
It appears what they are trying to accomplish is to gerrymander towns into districts, so less white people get elected.
Huntington Beach prepared to go to court to keep at-large elections
http://www.ocregister.com/2017/05/25/huntington-beach-prepared-to-go-to-court-to-keep-at-large-elections/
PUBLISHED: May 25, 2017 at 5:11 pm | UPDATED: May 25, 2017 at 5:20 pm
HUNTINGTON BEACH The courthouse could be the next step for city officials, as they prepare to fight a claim that the city is in violation of the California Voting Rights Act, which promotes greater minority representation in elections.
After receiving a letter in April from the Shenkman and Hughes law office that urged Huntington Beach to “voluntarily change its at-large system of electing council members” or face a legal challenge, Huntington Beach is pushing back.
“We are prepared to vigorously defend any lawsuit,” City Attorney Michael Gates wrote in a May 18 response to the letter’s claim the city’s elections were “racially polarizing, resulting in minority vote dilution.”
Attorney Kevin Shenkman called the response “a bizarre combination of confusion and combativeness.”
“I don’t think the letter invited a response,” he said. “Our response will be in the form of a lawsuit.”
Shenkman’s firm is known for successfully challenging and suing cities to adopt district election practices in accordance with the voting rights act.
Vista and Lake Forest have begun the process of switching to district elections after receiving April letters from Shenkman, and other Orange County cities such as Costa Mesa, Placentia and Fullerton voted in November to switch to district representation. In November, San Juan Capistrano held its first district elections after being sued by clients of Shenkman and Hughes. In 2014, Anaheim was the first Orange County city council to settle a suit by switching to district elections. Buena Park and Garden Grove followed suit.
In 2015, the city of Palmdale paid the Shenkman firm $4.5 million in fees and interest to settle a suit before agreeing to district elections.
Passed in 2001, the state act is an expansion of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, intending to make it easier for minority voters to elect representatives of their choosing. Minority groups can claim racial polarization if they are not adequately represented in government or have a history of failed attempts to elect minority candidates.
In his response, Gates refuted the notion that the city’s elections create a “racially polarized” process. Gates noted Thursday he had received unanimous backing from the mayor and City Council in closed session and was prepared to defend the city on an array of fronts, ranging from the city’s demographic diversity to the constitutionality of the voting act as applied to Huntington Beach.
According to 2010 Census data, Huntington Beach’s Latino population was about 17 percent. The city’s website lists it closer to 19 percent. Of the number of eligible voters in the city, only 13 percent are Latino and not concentrated in any particular part of the city, Gates said in his response.
Oak View, a one-square-mile area of about 7,400 residents near Warner Avenue and Nichols Lane, is the best known and most heavily Latino neighborhood in the city.
Victor Valladares, an activist with Oak View ComUnidad, said although he and his group are not a party to a possible suit, it is long overdue.
“I feel there is a lack of representation and double standards,” Valladares said.
“If there were districts they would do something,” he said. “Our votes would be worth something. Voter registration is low here because nothing changes.”
Gates said Huntington Beach is a close-knit city that does not have the demographics to support what he called a “one-size-fits-all” approach employed by Shenkman’s firm.
“The city does not have an extensive history where Latino voters have been disadvantaged,” he said.
Beyond factual disagreements, Gates said “there are also legal arguments where we believe the (voting rights act) has vulnerabilities, and past cases have even discussed that.”
Shenkman said each one of Gates’ arguments has been presented through many levels of court without success. He estimated his firm in the last five years has sent out 40 to 50 letters to cities it believes were violating the act and has gone to court eight times. All but Santa Monica, which could go to trial in October, he said, either have or are now in the process of enacting district voting.
In 2016, Common Cause reported that only 12 percent of California’s 415 cities held district elections, but that calculus has been rapidly shifting.
Unlike the federal Voting Rights Act, the California act does not require plaintiffs to demonstrate a specific geographic district where a minority is concentrated enough to establish a majority. This makes it easier for minority voters to sue local governments. Ethnic voters must have a track record of not being able to elect their preferred candidate.
In its letter to Huntington Beach, Shenkman’s group said in elections in 2014, 2004 and 2002, Latino candidates for City Council were defeated despite “significant support from Latino voters.”
In 2014, Hector “Hek” Valdez, a tattoo artist and political newcomer, finished in ninth place among 11 candidates with 6.3 percent of the vote.
The letter went on to say the Huntington Beach City Council doesn’t appear to have had a Latino member in recent history.
Dave Sullivan, a former two-time mayor who first served on the council in 1992, said he doesn’t remember any Latino members on the council, and few candidates.
Sullivan said he would like to see a member of the Latino community from the Oak View neighborhood get elected, but added that he doesn’t believe districting is the answer.
Ironically, Sullivan said he remembers years ago when the Chamber of Commerce floated the idea of district elections to attract more business-friendly members into government.
In his response, Gates said a lawsuit, if seen through, could lead to unintended consequences and be self-defeating.
“By your lawsuit, you may chart a course to set new uninvited legal precedent that finds the CVR, or portions of it, unconstitutional,” he wrote.
Gates argued there could be basic Constitutional issues at play. He said redistricting by law is a legislative process and shouldn’t be decided by the judiciary.
Shenkman said his office would soon begin its work on filing suit, though he did not have a date. He declined to say who the plaintiff in his case would be.
Gates responded, “We’re going to push back. And we’re going to push back hard.”