Federal Suit Provokes Councilwomen’s Clash

Tensions over Latino voting rights and a recently filed federal voting rights lawsuit against the city exploded in public Monday night during a City Council meeting punctuated by a highly personal screaming match between two councilwomen.

The council voted 4 to 1 Monday night to spend $100,000 to fight the lawsuit.

Councilwoman Laura Flores Espinosa, the lone council member to vote against opposing the suit, accused Councilwoman Robin Sullivan of attempting to “skew the findings” of a city report chronicling the numbers of Latinos who have served on the City Council.

The councilwomen argued during a meeting held to announce how city officials intended to proceed with the U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit alleging Santa Paula’s at-large voting system is to blame for the city’s lack of Latino representation.

After the council returned to chambers from a closed session, the argument began with Espinosa accusing Sullivan of using her Mexican heritage as a weak defense for the city’s current election system.

“To claim one-quarter Latino heritage may make for good dinner conversation,” Espinosa said, but “Ms. Sullivan has never identified with the Latino community and they have never identified with her.”

As the audience of 30 chuckled at Espinosa’s comments, Sullivan became furious. She proceeded to verbally attack the audience--particularly one local businessman--telling them she was ashamed of them.

“I’m very proud of my heritage,” Sullivan said after chastising the audience for laughing at her.

The businessman, John Wisda, at whom Sullivan directed most of her comments, yelled back at Sullivan and demanded to know why he was being singled out as the target of her outrage. Wisda left the meeting, but not before yelling an obscenity.

Sullivan responded, and then turned her attention back to Espinosa.

“I’m proud of the part of me that’s Mexican. Don’t try to insult me or my parents for political reasons. That’s where I draw the line,” Sullivan said.

Espinosa shot back, “It’s not an insult toward you.”

Sullivan replied: “You don’t know anything about my life.”

Espinosa then told the audience, “I’m very nervous and scared about her emotional stability. I fear for my safety.”

Sullivan yelled, “That’s baloney. I don’t even talk to the woman. I can’t believe you. That’s insane!” Sullivan then warned the media not to infer she threatened Espinosa or she would sue.

The exchange capped off a two-hour meeting during which six community members urged the city to capitulate to the Department of Justice’s demands rather than go forward with litigation.

No one spoke in favor of challenging the case in court.

“Please do not financially ruin our town,” said Ofelia De La Torre. “None of us know if the five-district system will be good here, but who will it really hurt?”

Eric Barragan, a member of one of the local Latino-controlled school boards, said the measure is being done for one of two reasons.

“It’s being done to save the face of the city,” he said, “or it’s being done out of something else. I wouldn’t want my local government to be called racist.”

Another resident, Gabino Aguirre, said the district system could alleviate historical underrepresentation in the heavily Latino east side of the city.

“I look for someone who has represented the east side and I can’t come up with one person in the 25 years I’ve been here,” he said. “There are consequences for the lack of representation. There are potholes on almost every street. When it rains there’s flooding. All I can think of were struggles we went through in the ‘60s--fast-forward 30 or 40 years and I’m really appalled we come to find ourselves in the same situation.”

The federal lawsuit was filed last week following a two-year investigation and months of warnings from the U.S. government. It alleges that the city’s at-large system of elections allows discrimination to persist by diluting the voting strength of the city’s Latino citizens.

Dividing the 4 1/2-square-mile city into five districts would ensure direct Latino representation in at least two of those districts, because there are enclaves of the city that are almost entirely Latino, the Justice Department argues.

John McDermott, the Los Angeles voting rights attorney hired to represent the city against the Justice Department, has argued that the federal government’s case is at best weak and at worst anti-Latino.

According to McDermott’s research, Latinos now make up more than half of the city’s eligible, if not registered, voters. If that is the case, he argues, they are a majority seeking protection from a law meant to protect minorities.

Furthermore, McDermott asserts, by drawing two overwhelmingly Latino districts, the city would be limiting the ability of Latino voters to control all five seats, a goal that would be possible if they exercised the power they already hold in numbers.

Many of Santa Paula’s Latino residents are poorly paid agricultural workers, and many are not U.S. citizens.

Only one of the council’s current five members is Latino--Espinosa--and historically, although Latinos make up two-thirds of the city’s population of about 27,000, no more than two Latinos have served on the council simultaneously.

With only about $1 million in reserves each year, Santa Paula’s leaders admit that the city may have a hard time paying for this litigation. McDermott charges $455 per hour, and he has estimated a challenge to the suit could cost the city between $100,000 and $1 million. Meanwhile, the city’s insurance company has yet to say whether it will cover the litigation costs. Councilman Jim Garfield has said he is talking with residents about creating a legal defense fund to help with the costs.

Since last July, the Justice Department had urged the city to voluntarily switch to district elections in order to avoid litigation. The council resisted, 4 to 1. Only Espinosa has advocated switching to the district system.

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Several council members said forming districts would create turf wars and breed confusion in such a small city. Some said they believed it would be tantamount to conceding that racial discrimination exists in city politics, something the majority of the council disputes. Meanwhile, three white council members live near one another, according to voter registration data. Latino activists argue that gives them another motivation for opposing district elections: It might force two of the three out of office.

The council last fall hired McDermott, who has defended several other California cities in similar litigation by the federal government and private Latino advocacy groups.