The Politics of Pusillanimity in the Valley

Who is the bigger coward: state Assemblyman Tony Cardenas (D-Sylmar) or U.S. Rep. Howard Berman (D-Mission Hills)?

Cut through the rhetoric surrounding the recent redistricting for the California congressional delegation and state Legislature and it pretty much comes down to that admittedly tactless--but valid--question.

Cardenas’ display of political cowardice is far more disappointing, for reasons I’ll explain, but Berman still gets my vote as the Gutless Wonder of the Year because his craven stance could deny Latinos another seat in Congress they would almost certainly have had.

Luckily, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, or MALDEF, has sued to overturn the redistricting plan, partly on the grounds it would distribute Latino voters in two San Fernando Valley congressional districts so that neither would be likely to elect a Latino for a long time to come.

First, some background:

Redistricting is done every 10 years so that political district boundaries can reflect the population changes measured by the U.S. Census. It’s always an ugly exercise, with incumbents of all stripes scrambling to draw themselves safe districts with no concern for their colleagues or, God forbid, their constituents.

This year, to try to keep the political bloodletting to a minimum, Democrats cut a back-room deal with Republicans. The Democrats agreed to maintain the current partisan balance in Sacramento (which favors them 26-14 in the Senate and 50-30 in the Assembly) if the GOP promised not to challenge the redistricting plan in court or through a ballot referendum.

Thus incumbents in both parties would get the “safe” districts they wanted.

But, when it came to Congress, Rep. Berman and his Machiavellian baby brother, Michael, a political consultant hired by the Democrats, could only draw a “safe” district for Berman by diluting the Latino votes in the Valley. No problem. Michael Berman drew his brother a district on the western side of the San Fernando Valley that had 31% Latino voters, according to MALDEF; his current district in the East Valley has 45%. All the Latino voters Berman didn’t want were shifted over to a neighboring district now represented by Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks). Presto, two white districts instead of one white and one potentially Latino.

To be fair, the Berman brothers did not attempt this sleight of hand because Howard Berman dislikes Latinos. Knee-jerk liberal that he is, he loves to remind Latinos he was a friend of Cesar Chavez and still helps the United Farm Workers. (Never mind that Chavez is long dead and most of Berman’s constituents in urban barrios consider the UFW irrelevant to their lives.)

No, what frightens Howard Berman is too many Latinos. And even more frightening is the prospect that an ambitious Latino politico might use the growing number of Latino voters in his current district as a base to challenge him.

Until recently, Assemblyman Cardenas was the hot young pol whom Latinos in the East Valley expected to challenge Howard Berman. Cardenas has been talking privately--even boastfully--about doing so some day. With term limits forcing Cardenas out of the Legislature this year, Valley Latinos assumed “some day” would be in 2002.

Which is why many were stunned when Cardenas opted to take what many consider a step backward and run for a vacant Los Angeles City Council seat representing the East Valley. And also why many Latinos are disappointed at his remarkable silence regarding the Berman brothers’ power play. Why didn’t he put up a stink when the Bermans drew the new congressional districts so he didn’t have a shot against Berman? Sure, he could still run in the East Valley against Sherman, but his chances there are also weakened.

Can it be that Cardenas simply ran away from a fight? That’s what Latino activists are asking, but Cardenas isn’t talking. He needs to explain why he and his notoriously tough-talking political allies are taking a dive when it comes to the Berman brothers.

I’m not really surprised about not getting straight answers from the main characters in this sordid little political drama. As noted, none of them comes off looking courageous--much less responsive, visionary or the other good things we want elected officials to be.

The heroes in this fight are the attorneys for MALDEF, which last week filed a federal lawsuit challenging Michael Berman’s redistricting plan as a violation of the Voting Rights Act. MALDEF proceeded with that suit despite intense pressure from allies of the Berman brothers--including a few self-styled Latino leaders from outside Los Angeles--who urged them to stay out of the fray.

Good for MALDEF. Its attorneys just might convince a court to rule that what liberal whites did to Latinos in the Valley is every bit as illegal as the shenanigans redneck whites once used to disenfranchise black voters in the South.