PERSPECTIVE ON L.A. VOTING RIGHTS : Latino Win Is Really a Victory for All : The county is long overdue for an expanded Board of Supervisors, accountable to our diversity.

News of the court ruling against the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors swept through the Latino community like wildfire on Monday. The decision was in: Latinos had won their two-year battle against the most powerful local-government body in the country. A federal judge ruled that the 1981 redistricting plan adopted by the Board of Supervisors “sadly denied” the Latino community an equal opportunity to participate in the political process in the county.

The yoke of political disfranchisement has been lifted from the shoulders of the Latino community in Los Angeles, and Latinos are reveling in feelings of empowerment.

The voting-rights ruling is a great achievement for Latinos, but it also is an important victory for the entire county. While the decision will unify the Latino community, it also should unify all county residents who seek better local government.

With triumph in hand, we must move quickly to formulate changes to ensure that the Latino community is fairly represented on the board, as ordered by U.S. District Judge David V. Kenyon. In the process, we must determine the best possible remedy to secure effective government for all county residents. The best way to reach this objective is through expansion of the Board of Supervisors, from its current five members to nine.

Increasing the number of supervisorial districts is the only way to increase the participation of under-represented groups--not just Latinos--on the board, which is now all-white and all-male.

Judge Kenyon observed that the task of reapportionment is properly a legislative function, and said he would give the present board a reasonable opportunity to implement a constitutional remedy of its own. Still, he stated that “expansion may well be in the best interest of all concerned,” and that “it is the sincere hope of this court that in fashioning a suitable remedy, defendants will carefully reconsider the issue of expansion.”

We encourage the board to heed the judge’s recommendation. Expansion would improve the government of the county to everyone’s benefit, because it would respond to the diversity of all communities of interest: Latinos, Asians, African-Americans, women.

Expanding the board to nine members falls in line with studies and recommendations from both the League of Women Voters and the Los Angeles County Bar Assn.

Increasing the number of supervisors to nine would cut the districts down to a more practical, more manageable size than the 1.5 million in each today. This should provide for more responsive government, and it would make supervisorial election candidacy more accessible.

Throughout the trial, attorneys for the county attempted to paint the Latino community as one that was not cohesive, was not united in its quest for increased political participation and could not elect a candidate of its choice even if provided with the opportunity to do so. Judge Kenyon’s ruling has laid to rest those misperceptions and has vindicated the Latino community.

Latinos recognize that they now have the opportunity to fully participate in county politics and to elect the candidate of their choice. They also believe that increased Latino participation will invigorate and strengthen the political processes of county government.

County government should be local government, close to the people it serves. Unfortunately, the reality for Los Angeles County residents over the last few decades has been distant and irresponsible representation as a result of political maneuvering by and for the protection of the incumbents. Expansion of the board to nine members would provide more accountability of elected officials to their constituencies and begin the process of true representative government for the first time in many years.