City Council forced to change election process

The one major issue addressed by the Tehachapi City Council at their Sept. 5 meeting was a letter that the City received on July 24 from Kevin Shenkman of the law firm Shenkman & Hughes located in Malibu, Ca. representing the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project. The letter asserted that the City's at-large election system for City Council members violates the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA). It claims that the system dilutes the ability of minority residents, particularly Latinos (a protected class) to elect candidates of their choice.

Tehachapi joins other California cities that have faced this challenge. Those cities that have chosen to defend the at-large election system all have been defeated. An example is the City of Palmdale that paid more than $4.5 million after unsuccessfully defending the CVRA action filed against it. Other cities also have ended up paying more than $1 million in attorneys fees and cost to plaintiffs.

Although they did not feel that the suggestion of racism was valid, the City Council and their attorney, Tom Schroeter, felt that the City's at-large election system could be in violation of the CVRA. They voted unanimously to pursue the transition to district-based elections and avoid the potential risk and expenses associated with litigation.

"This hit us suddenly," Mayor Ed Grimes said. "We don't like it but Sacramento is the one who put this on us."

Effective Jan. 1, 2017, Elections Code Section 10010 outlined the process for switching to district-based elections. The process includes a series of public hearings. The first two hearings are to receive comments regarding the transition to district-based elections, the time frame for the transition, and the criteria and factors that go into the drawing of map of the voting districts. The first hearing was held during the Sept. 5 meeting. The second public hearing will be held at the Sept. 18 City Council Meeting. Following the September hearings, the City will hire a demographer to draft a potential district map outlining the boundaries. The remaining two public hearings will be on Oct. 16 and Nov. 6.

The City has hired the law firm of Richards/Watson/Gershon to help them navigate the processes of switching to district-based elections. Attorney Youstina Aziz appeared at the Sept. 5 meeting to answer questions from both Council members and the public. She also will be attending the future public hearings.

Mary Lou Corpus-Zamudio, who was on the Council from 2012-2014, said she was not happy to learn that she was cited as an example in the Shenkman letter. "I didn't win because I didn't have enough campaign money, the voters didn't choose me and I didn't work hard enough; not because I am Hispanic," she said.

Socorro Schmidt, who has been a resident of Tehachapi most of her life said "This is capitulation...it's just blackmail."

City Manager Greg Garrett said that he wanted everyone to be aware of the next three public hearings. They will be held at 6 p.m. in the City Council chambers at Wells Education Center, 300 S. Robinson St. on

Sept. 18, 2017; Oct. 16, 2017; and Nov. 6, 2017

The final adoption of the ordinance to elect members by districts will be Nov. 20, 2017.

For supplementary coverage of this topic, read The Forde Files in this issue on page 22-23: http://www.theloopnewspaper.com/story/2017/09/16/local-news/chopping-up-tehachapi-because-vote-dilution/3868.html