Delay Is Requested on Order for Remap

Attorneys for Los Angeles County asked a federal judge Wednesday to stay his order requiring the Board of Supervisors to redraw district lines so that the county can immediately appeal his ruling that the current boundaries discriminate against Latinos.

The victorious plaintiffs in the case said they will fight the county’s request at a hearing Friday before U.S. District Judge David V. Kenyon.

“They (the supervisors) are just trying to delay the inevitable,” said Mark Rosenbaum, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, a plaintiff in the case. “These guys are just on the wrong side of history.”

In court papers, county attorneys also urged Kenyon to allow the November runoff between Sarah Flores and Gregory O’Brien in the 1st District to proceed, even though it may later be invalidated. They said that if the judge calls off the runoff and holds a November election in new districts and the county wins an appeal, “not one but two rounds of candidates will have wasted their time and money campaigning” for office in elections that were nullified.

The county is attempting to speed up its appeal of Kenyon’s ruling last week that the five Anglo supervisors drew their districts in 1981 in a way that dilutes the political influence of the county’s 3 million Latinos.

Supervisors and their most trusted staff remained locked in their offices Wednesday drawing maps to meet Kenyon’s June 27 deadline to remedy the discrimination. County attorneys are scheduled to present a plan privately to supervisors today.

According to their aides, the supervisors are considering carving a Latino district from Ed Edelman’s or Pete Schabarum’s district.

Carving a new Latino territory from Edelman’s district could put conservative supervisor Deane Dana at political risk because it would add liberal Westside neighborhoods to his coastal district. Schabarum is retiring, but the conservatives want to prevent a liberal from succeeding him.

As a result, conservative supervisors who previously opposed expanding the board from five to seven members are now considering the idea. Expansion would give conservatives an opportunity to maintain their control by creating a Latino district near downtown and a new San Fernando Valley district, where a conservative would have a chance of winning election.

The county has spent $4 million fighting the lawsuit, which was filed in 1988, and is liable for at least $2 million more if the judge awards attorneys’ fees to the plaintiffs.

County attorneys said that if they must wait until Kenyon concludes the case in July or August--and they eventually win on appeal--it could set back the very thing the lawsuit seeks--the election of the first Latino to the board.

“Even if the plaintiffs take the position that Ms. Flores is not the ‘right kind’ of Hispanic, that really is not for them to determine, but rather for the electorate,” the county said. Flores was the top vote-getter in the June 5 primary for the seat being vacated by Schabarum. Edelman also won reelection in his 3rd District.

The plaintiffs said Wednesday that the suit seeks to give Latino neighborhoods an opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice to the board.

The county’s court papers offer the first glimpse into the arguments that supervisors will use for an appeal.

“The court found that the Board of Supervisors intentionally discriminated against Hispanic interests in adopting the 1981 redistricting plan because the board acted to preserve incumbencies,” the legal brief stated. “However, the court found that no racial animosity guided the decision.”