City Rejects Election to End Voting Rights Suit : Oxnard: A Latino councilman calls on residents to urge the government to reconsider the decision.

Oxnard’s City Council has rejected a call for a special election to settle a voting-rights lawsuit aimed at increasing minority representation. The suit, filed by an unsuccessful mayoral candidate, would force Oxnard to pick City Council members by district instead of in citywide elections.

As settlement negotiations fell apart, Manuel Lopez, Oxnard’s only Latino councilman, called on residents Thursday to urge the council to reconsider its decision.

Latino activists contend that at-large election systems tend to dilute minority voting strength. Most incumbents and other opponents argue that cutting smaller cities into districts leads to pork-barrel politics and poor overall representation.

Under the proposed settlement, plaintiff John Soria would have dropped the suit if the City Council allowed the issue to be decided in a special election, said Soria’s attorney, Gerhard W. Orthuber of Oxnard.

In its counterproposal, the City Council offered a ballot initiative mandating that council members live in districts but that elections remain at large, said City Atty. Gary Gillig. That offer was rejected by Soria, an unsuccessful candidate in last November’s municipal elections.

Also blocking a settlement are disagreements on who should pay for the plaintiff’s legal fees and how many districts would be drawn. The City Council favors four districts but Soria wants six, Gillig said.

Both sides said they are preparing for trial but remain open to further negotiations.

The stalemate has set the stage for a costly trial, scheduled to begin June 18 in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, which could drain the cash-strapped city treasury. The city, faced with a $4-million deficit, last month agreed to cut most of its social programs, lay off several workers and stop funding the South Oxnard Community Center.

The lawsuit against Oxnard is the first districting case in Ventura County and one of several in the state since a landmark Watsonville case in 1989 forced that Northern California city to adopt council districts.

The case cost Watsonville $2 million in a losing cause. Los Angeles County spent more than $6 million to unsuccessfully defend itself in a similar case.

Oxnard is being represented by John E. McDermott of Los Angeles, one of the top voting rights attorneys in the state--and one of the most costly at $290 an hour.

Council members live in mostly white, affluent areas of the city--Dorothy Maron, Michael Plisky and Lopez live in northwest Oxnard and Gerry Furr and Mayor Nao Takasugi live in southern neighborhoods near the beach.

Lopez said he is ambivalent about districting, because he believes that Oxnard’s rapidly growing Latino population will soon gain significant political representation regardless of the election system.

Latinos make up 54% of Oxnard’s population--up from 46% a decade ago--but only about 37% of the city’s registered voters.

“I think districts are helpful in the short term, but 15 years from now, the political system won’t make any difference,” Lopez said.

Lopez said he doubted that Soria could succeed in a special election, but said an election would cost only about $50,000--much less than a lawsuit. “If we had a lot of money, I wouldn’t be concerned one way or another, but our resources are very limited,” he said.

“It doesn’t make sense to cut our fire and police services to pay for this lawsuit. My plea to residents who believe in prudent, economic and representative government is to run--not walk--to the nearest phone, call individual council members and express your concern.”

But Maron said district elections are unnecessary. “This city has always elected minorities. This is not a lily-white town and never has been.”

Council districts would produce ward politics so damaging to the city that it is not worth risking a special election on the issue, she said.

The Oxnard case is being closely monitored by Latino voting rights activists statewide. Many of them believe that the city’s electoral system excludes minorities, but said they are concerned about Orthuber’s ability to put together a solid case by trial date.

“We all agree Oxnard’s electoral system has excluded Latinos from political access and needs to be changed,” said Richard Martinez, a Los Angeles attorney for the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project.

“The question is, is this case the vehicle, can it be developed well, with enough time? Right now, I don’t know the answer. In any case, Oxnard can’t afford to even discuss it.”