Antonovich Calls Bias Ruling Wrong

Supervisor Mike Antonovich told a federal judge Thursday that Sarah Flores’ first-place finish in the June primary for a seat on the county board shows that the judge was wrong in ruling that the supervisors discriminated against Latinos in drawing district boundaries.

Antonovich took the witness stand during the third day of a hearing before U.S. District Judge David V. Kenyon on whether a new county redistricting plan corrects violations of the federal Voting Rights Act.

Kenyon is expected to decide early next week whether to accept the plan, which places Supervisor Ed Edelman in a new, predominantly Latino district. The plaintiffs in the voting rights case want a district without an incumbent to improve the chances for the first Latino to win a seat on the board.

In his testimony, Antonovich denied allegations that he and Supervisor Deane Dana endorsed Flores in an effort to persuade Kenyon to dismiss the voting rights lawsuit.

The allegation was made under oath Wednesday by Flores’ opponent, Superior Court Judge Gregory O’Brien.

Dana on Monday testified that he had “absolutely not” told O’Brien that the lawsuit was the reason he supported Flores to succeed retiring Supervisor Pete Schabarum--a statement that O’Brien said amounted to perjury.

Antonovich said he met with O’Brien in March and told him, “The plan in 1981 was not discriminatory, and Sarah Flores’ victory will show it.”

He said that Flores’ first-place finish shows that Kenyon’s ruling was “wrong.”

Flores, who won 35% of the vote in June, and O’Brien, who received 20%, are due to face off in November, but whether the election will proceed hinges on the outcome of the hearing.

Antonovich said he endorsed Flores because he has known her since high school, because of her experience as a longtime deputy to Schabarum and because “she was the best qualified.”

Supervisor Kenneth Hahn on Thursday submitted written testimony objecting to the county proposal to add Beverly Hills and Hollywood to his South-Central Los Angeles district. Hahn said that would make it “harder for a black candidate or a candidate favored by the black community” to get elected.