Voting in Santa Paula

Re “U.S. Sues Santa Paula Over Voting System,” April 7.

I am a lifelong resident of Santa Paula. I am an American of Mexican descent. I speak both English and Spanish. I have never denied my heritage. I am not a victim of any society, because the decisions that I made in life, good or bad, were my decisions.

The last thing I would want is to look back and say, “I would not have succeeded if I hadn’t had the help or backing of this group or that group, or if they had to bring in outside groups to teach me how to stand up for what I believe in!”

The issue of council ethnicity was raised in the Justice Department complaint, which says only Espinosa is Hispanic and that only she was the choice of Hispanic voters. Her margin of victory was not overwhelming. We had three Hispanic candudates on the ballot. My question to Espinosa is: If she was the choice of the Hispanic community, estimated at 50% of eligible voters, why did she not receive the majority of the votes and why weren’t the other two Hispanic candidates elected? Obviously not all agreed with her agenda.

Another obvious conclusion is that not all of the Hispanic population is registered to vote. As a citizen of this country, I believe it is a privilege and a right to vote, but it is also our privilege and our right to choose not to.

Instead of accepting the obvious, Ms. Espinosa has made the issue ethnicity!

MAIYA HERRERA

Santa Paula