U.S. Sues Santa Paula Over Its Voting System

After a two-year investigation, the federal government on Thursday sued this Ventura County city, alleging that its at-large voting system has perpetuated racial discrimination by preventing Latino candidates from being elected to the City Council.

“We feel today’s lawsuit will help bring down the barriers preventing Santa Paula’s Hispanic citizens from having an equal opportunity to elect representatives to their city government,” said Bill Lann Lee, acting assistant attorney general for civil rights.

If a judge agrees with federal lawyers, the 4.5-square-mile city of 27,000 could be required to carve itself into five single-member districts, two of which would have Latino majorities.

John McDermott, a Los Angeles voting rights attorney hired by Santa Paula to defend its system, said the government is pushing “quotas” and a policy of “racial maximization” that fly in the face of recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings.

McDermott said it also marks the first voting rights case brought by the Justice Department against a California government since it sued Los Angeles County in the late 1980s. He also said it is the first time the Justice Department has pursued litigation against a city in which the minority it seeks to protect makes up a majority of the city’s eligible voters.

Although the figures are in dispute, McDermott says more than 50% of those eligible to vote in Santa Paula are Latino.

Latino activists said they hoped Thursday’s announcement would herald a wave of similar litigation throughout the state. The League of United Latin American Citizens said it will join the suit.

Some white officials criticized the suit.

“I think they’re dead wrong,” said City Councilman Don Johnson, who owns the local newspaper and is one of four white council members who oppose changing the system.

Laura Flores Espinosa, the fifth council member and sole Latino, said she supports the Justice Department’s action and believes it “is acting in the best interests of the city.”

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Los Angeles, argues that the city’s system--which in concept would allow five candidates who live on the same street to represent the entire city--violates the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Furthermore, the suit charges that plans recently approved to triple the city’s size by annexing canyons to build luxury homes would only further dilute Latino voting power by increasing the proportion of whites living in the city.

Justice Department officials would not say whether the vote in February that paved the way for the expansion triggered the litigation, but they acknowledged that they had been monitoring the expansion effort closely.

Justice officials also would not say whether the lawsuit is a warning to Ventura County’s other nine cities, all of which have at-large representation, or to California as a whole. “We look throughout the country,” said spokeswoman Kara Peterman.

In Santa Paula, City Council members who fought against splitting the city into geographic districts said they were disappointed but would continue to fight.

“I feel we’ve been singled out by a group or by people who want to get even with the city for personal reasons,” said Mayor Richard C. Cook.

“From everything I know about the history of Santa Paula, everything is equal and fair,” Cook said. “I’d suggest challenging it. But we’re this small city that’s broke and we’re dealing with the federal government that has deep pockets.

“Every time we get sued we either have to give in, even if we think it’s wrong, or fight it and spend the money we could have spent on capital improvements or whatever else.”

Jesse Ornelas, an activist who builds low-income housing in the area, said the lawsuit was “long overdue” and urged the city to settle the case.