Glendale ponders having larger council

Almost four months after voters overwhelmingly rejected a move to split the community into voting districts, city officials are looking into expanding the City Council to seven at-large members and moving municipal elections to November.

Measure D — which would have been an amendment to the city’s charter — was put on the ballot after an attorney threatened suit under state law, saying the at-large system suppressed Latino representation on the dais. It was defeated by a nearly 2-to-1 margin.

The council on Tuesday was scheduled to consider the items but ended up postponing its decision because of a state bill that’s heading to Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk.

SB 415, which has already won legislative support, would require cities to consolidate their elections with state general elections in the fall, meaning the city could no longer have election days in April.

But the question of whether to expand the council could be going before local voters as early as November 2016 if the current council says yes at an upcoming meeting.

Part of what’s driving the question is to be on the same level with cities like Pasadena, which has a smaller population than Glendale’s but has seven council members and an elected mayor, wrote City Atty. Michael Garcia in a city staff report.

“Reasons for increasing the size of the City Council include increasing the City Council’s capacity to serve Glendale residents and providing more access to council members for Glendale residents,” he wrote.

In the same staff report, Garcia referenced a December 2013 letter penned by attorney Kevin Shenkman, who threatened the city with litigation if it didn’t transition to a district voting system. The Glendale Unified School District has already been sued by Shenkman, while Glendale Community College’s Board of Trustees already voted to make the switch.

Having districts would mean a single council member would represent a geographic area of the city instead of the entirety of the community. All current members of the council live north of Glenoaks Boulevard and south of the 210 (Foothill) Freeway.

Resident Brian Ellis, who wrote the arguments against Measure D in the April ballot, said he doesn’t believe a bigger council is necessary.

“Staff repeatedly references the letter a litigation happy lawyer sent regarding the style and form of our elections,” he said. “Until a suit is actually filed — and based on the legal opinions we heard earlier this year, there may be no basis for such a suit — it is disingenuous to continue using this as a threat.”

Garcia has mentioned on several occasions in the past year that Latinos make up only about 17% of Glendale’s population, according to the 2010 U.S. Census, and noted members of the group — such as Gus Gomez and Rick Reyes — have been elected to council.

Ellis said he questions whether residents have difficulty speaking or meeting with council members. If not, no more members are needed.

But City Manager Scott Ochoa said the city doesn’t live in a vacuum and can’t ignore the districting issues community college and school districts are facing.

“I would like to think we don’t tack policy direction based on potential lawsuits,” he said. “I think if the council wants to move in that direction, it’s the right thing to do and that’s going to be the determining factor overall.”

If local voters approved a charter amendment to expand the council, the body would get two extra members starting with the November 2018 race.

In addition, Garcia said council members whose terms would expire in April 2017 would be continued to Nov. 28, while those set to expire in April 2019 would be extended to November 2020.