ANAHEIM : District Votes Urged for Council Elections

Saying the all-white City Council is not representative of a city that is more than 30% Latino, a voter group has called on the city to abandon its at-large elections and begin electing the council by districts.

The Orange County Hispanic Committee for Fair Elections, a nonpartisan group that announced a similar effort in Santa Ana last week, noted that no Latino has ever been elected to the council and said none is likely to be under the present system in which the council is elected in citywide balloting.

The committee wants the city to be divided into districts along community lines, with each electing its own council member. Anaheim is the second-largest city in the state that does not elect its council by districts, the group said.

Because the city’s Latino community is concentrated downtown, the group believes a Latino would almost certainly be elected to the council if its plan is adopted. It is threatening to sue the city for discrimination if the council refuses to approve it or place it on the ballot.

“For one of us to win an election (under the current system), it would cost more than $100,000 and we could not raise that kind of money,” said Amin David, the group’s co-chairman and an Anaheim businessman. “(Latinos) have been conspicuous in their lack of appointments to city commissions and committees, the places where we could make contact with the people who could make those kinds of contributions.”

The committee has sent a letter to the council asking it to place its proposal on the ballot next year.

“If they don’t, we would take the city to court,” David said, citing a recent court decision ordering the city of Watsonville to implement district elections for its council after it was ruled that an at-large system was keeping Latinos out of office.

According to the 1990 U.S. Census, 31% of Anaheim’s 260,000 residents are Latino. But, according to the county registrar of voters office, only 10% of Latinos there are registered to vote. David said the current process makes Latinos feel politically powerless and discourages them from registering.

The council was split on the issue.

Councilman William D. Ehrle said he has long believed that the city is too big for at-large elections. He wants the city divided into four council districts, with the mayor elected in an at-large election. He said it would be good for all Anaheim residents, Latino or otherwise.

“When the city is done expanding, it is going to be almost 37 or 38 miles long,” he said. “The problems they have on the westside are not the same problems they have downtown or in Anaheim Hills. This would also give each geographical area someone to call when they have a problem.”

But Councilman Bob D. Simpson said he is “diametrically opposed” to a districting plan because he believes the city is not large enough.

“Anaheim is not that big and I hope it never gets that way,” he said. “That kind of government only leads to a spoils system where council members are only interested in the sections of the city they represent.”

He believes that a Latino could be elected under the current at-large system, but “I don’t know if there has ever been a serious contender from the Latino community.”

Councilman Tom Daly said there is nothing in the current system that discriminates against a Latino candidate, but added that the idea of council districts should be discussed.

“Let’s face it, there are people living in Anaheim who live closer to the city halls in Orange and Yorba Linda and Buena Park and Stanton than they do their own,” he said.