Redistricting Battle Lines Are Drawn

County officials got their first taste Wednesday of what is likely to be a lively debate over how to redraw Orange County’s political boundaries when a Latino civil rights group submitted its suggested redistricting plan.

According to the League of United Latin American Citizens, Orange County’s supervisorial boundaries need to be redrawn to preserve Santa Ana’s ethnic population in one district, increasing the chances of a Latino being elected to the Board of Supervisors.

“It’s time. Our numbers in the last census prove it,” said Art Montez, an outspoken member of LULAC, the nation’s first Latino civil rights organization.

LULAC’s plan, formally submitted Wednesday to the county’s redistricting committee, would take in parts of the county’s ethnic core, including Garden Grove, Orange and all of Santa Ana. The plan also calls for redrawing the 1st District’s boundary southward to include the closed El Toro Marine base and a portion of Irvine, so that a second district in north Orange County could be carved to help minority supervisorial candidates.

Figures from the 2000 census show that whites are no longer the majority in 10 of the county’s cities. That was true of only one city, Santa Ana, in 1990. In Buena Park, the percentage of the population that was white dwindled from 71% in 1990 to 38% in 2000, as the percentage that were Latino increased to at least 30% and Asians to at least 21%.

Montez, a trustee for the Centralia School District in Buena Park, said LULAC’s plan also changes the boundaries of the 4th Supervisorial District to include larger parts of Buena Park, Stanton and Anaheim because they now have large minority communities. That would also give a minority candidate a greater chance of winning a seat.

James Campbell, the county’s redistricting committee chairman, said that while LULAC’s preliminary plan is slightly off with its population figures, its overall concept is on target given the committee’s mission of “keeping communities of interest” together for fair representation.

The meeting was the committee’s first following the release of the new census figures. The committee must make a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors in time for the board to meet an August deadline to have the new district lines drawn.

The once-a-decade process of redistricting--from federal to state to county districts--has produced some bizarre results over the years, with boundaries veering through or around neighborhoods and towns to concentrate or eliminate certain voters.

In 1990, county supervisors split Santa Ana three ways, rousing emotions and prompting threats of a civil rights lawsuit, though none was filed. Just why the city was split is still a matter of conjecture. A favored theory is that then-Supervisor Roger R. Stanton engineered the boundary to ruin any chance of then-Santa Ana Mayor Dan Young running against him. Stanton denies any such intrigue.

“Though there are a number of key changes to consider, making Santa Ana whole is one of the keys,” said Campbell, chief of staff for Supervisor Chuck Smith, who represents the 1st District. “And as far as LULAC’s plan is concerned, most of their boundaries are in the ballpark, though the 1st District does extend too far south.”

LULAC’s plans would squeeze both the former Tustin and El Toro air bases into the same district.

The public has until May 18 to submit proposals for boundary changes. The county’s redistricting information is expected to be available today on the county’s Web site at https://www.oc.ca.gov and at the Center for Demographic Research at Cal State Fullerton, 2600 E. Nutwood Ave., Suite 750.

The center has contracted with the county to provide redistricting information and access to computers. Appointments to use the center can be made by calling (714) 278-4670.

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Redrawing the Lines

A Latino civil rights organization has submitted a plan to Orange County’s redistricting committee that would create a supervisorial district in the county’s ethnic core with a minority majority.