Local News in Brief : Some Latinos Back County in Bias Suit

Some Latino supporters of conservative Supervisor Mike Antonovich sided with the supervisors Wednesday in Los Angeles County’s defense against a federal lawsuit charging that Latinos are discriminated against in the way supervisorial district lines are drawn.

Antonovich’s Latino supporters joined the supervisor in the city of San Fernando to protest federal attempts to force a redrawing of the boundaries. They said they favor waiting to realign the boundaries until after the 1990 census.

The Justice Department, in a suit filed last month, accused the board of weakening the political strength of the county’s 2 million Latinos and violating the 1965 Voting Rights Act by scattering Latinos over several districts when supervisors formed the current district lines in 1981. The lawsuit asks the court to force supervisors to produce a new plan before the next countywide elections in 1990.

But Dan Acuna, mayor pro tem of San Fernando--a city that is predominantly Latino--said Wednesday that any redistricting should wait until new census information is available, even though that means waiting until after the next election.