Chicano Federation, S.D. Settle Rights Suit : Voters May Decide in June Whether to Expand 8-Member Council to 10; Fees May Cloud Issue

The city and the Chicano Federation on Wednesday agreed on a plan designed to enhance the voting power of the city’s minorities, tentatively resolving to allow voters to decide next June on an expansion of the City Council from eight districts to 10, effective in 1993.

The out-of-court settlement of the federation’s 20-month-old lawsuit also mandates a redrawing of existing council district boundaries by Oct. 1, 1990, using preliminary U. S. Census Bureau data, which federation lawyers contend will most accurately reflect the growth in the city’s Latino population.

The final decision on reapportionment, however, will remain in the hands of the council, not the independent redistricting commission first sought by the Chicano Federation.

Doubting Members

The settlement cannot be considered final until the council ratifies it, possibly as late as Monday. With some members expressing reservations over a clause in the agreement calling for the city to pay $20,000 in federation attorneys’ fees, adoption is not certain.

U. S. District Judge John S. Rhoades ordered both sides to appear in his court Monday afternoon, warning that, if the council turns down the tentative settlement, he will immediately hear Chicano Federation arguments to postpone council elections scheduled for Tuesday. The federation contends that another election should not be held in the absence of a plan to redress minority voting-rights grievances.

The federation maintained that it achieved victory on the major issues that prompted it to sue in January, 1988, to replace the council’s then two-tiered electoral system--district primaries followed by citywide runoffs between the top two vote-getters--with a plan that elects council members solely within their own districts.

That aspect of the suit was rendered moot when voters adopted the district-only election plan by narrowly approving a ballot initiative last November, but Rhoades last month allowed the group to press forward with other elements of its suit, among them a bid for a 12-seat City Council and an independent redistricting commission.

“This lawsuit was filed to increase the power of Hispanics and blacks. It was never a matter of money,” said Jess Haro, chairman of the Chicano Federation. “Minorities will have the opportunity to elect who they want to elect, and also, minority candidates will have a better chance of prevailing at the polls.”

Far From Certain

Despite Haro’s optimism, approval of the council expansion is far from certain. The agreement does not prohibit council members from working for the defeat of the 10-seat initiative at the polls next June, nor does it preclude them from placing alternative measures on the ballot, members said.

Although Haro said such activity would be “contrary to the spirit of the agreement,” Mayor Maureen O’Connor and several council members Wednesday repeated their longstanding opposition to a 10-seat council.

“I don’t think the people of the city of San Diego want to expand the size of the council from eight seats to 10 seats and pay for the cost of that,” said Councilman Ed Struiksma.

O’Connor echoed those comments but declined to say whether she will actively oppose the ballot measure. She estimated the cost of two new council offices and their staffs at about $1 million per district.

“You’ve got to go to the people with this, and that’s where it belongs,” O’Connor said.

Holding Out for $125,000

Meanwhile, the proposed $20,000 payment to federation attorneys Mike Aguirre and Patricia Meyer has upset some council members who believe that the city is guiltless. In recent days, O’Connor said, the federation has been holding out for as much as $125,000 in attorneys’ fees, and the council has been offering $10,000.

“I don’t think we should pay them anything,” said Councilman Bruce Henderson. I was willing to pay ($10,000). I’m not very excited about paying” $20,000.

“They’ve always said that it’s the principle of the thing, not the principal and interest,” O’Connor quipped. She said agreement on all issues besides attorneys’ fees was reached days ago.

Councilman Bob Filner promised Wednesday to vote against the pact, declaring that it is a deal between the Republican majority and the federation to add Latinos to his district in an attempt to oust him from office in 1991. Filner, an Anglo Democrat representing a district with a large Latino population, defeated attorney Aguirre to win the seat in 1987.

Having retained the power to decide reapportionment, Filner said, the five-member Republican majority on the council will redraw district lines next year to make the 4th and 8th districts even more heavily minority, and create six relatively white seats for Republicans.

‘Would Be Ghetto Seats’

“They’re getting the federal suit off their backs so they can redistrict the way they want to,” he said. The Republicans will “confine the Democrats to two seats that would be ghetto seats. The way they’re set up, those two seats would have very little power.”

Henderson, a member of the council’s Republican majority, responded that “that is not happening so far as I know. There is no attempt to focus on Bob Filner as a Democrat.”

A citizens group is backing a ballot initiative that would create an independent board appointed by the presiding judge of the Superior Court to handle redistricting.

The tentative settlement between the council and federation followed numerous closed-door strategy sessions held by the council on the future of the city’s electoral process, including three separate sessions Tuesday. It was made final with the aid of U. S. Magistrate Harry McCue on Wednesday afternoon. City and federation attorneys then reported the settlement to Rhoades at a previously scheduled hearing later in the day.

Under the agreement, the council would redistrict for the 1991 elections by Oct. 1, 1990, with participation of an advisory commission appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the council.

If voters approve the council expansion, a second redistricting would have to occur before the 1993 election. According to attorney Meyer, one new council member would be elected for two years, the other for four years. After the first election, all 10 seats would be filled for four-year terms.

Voters also would be asked to approve a City Charter revision obligating the council to redistrict every 10 years within 12 months after final census data is available. The council now can redistrict four to 10 years after the last reapportionment.