“The Orange County Labor Federation, during its last two strategic planning sessions prioritized achieving district based elections…”
That statement should be cause for alarm as the Anaheim Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) winds up its work next month. As Anaheim Blog has documented, a highly-organized coalition of left-wing unions and a satellite non-profit are working every angle to carve Anaheim into eight single-member council districts, and better position themselves to enact liberal policies that diminish property rights and economic liberty.
Keep in mind that the OC Labor Federation’s point man on this issue is its political director, Julio Perez — and CAC Chair Vivian Pham was a donor to Perez’s failed 2012 Assembly campaign.
A STATEMENT BY THE ORANGE COUNTY LABOR FEDERATION
Concerned residents and community leaders stood outside Anaheim City Hall this afternoon in support of the ACLU of Southern California and Goldstein, Demchak, Baller, Borgen and Dardarian to sue the city for lack of representation on the Anaheim City Council.
With a population of more than 300,000 and more than 50 percent of residents Latino, the city still holds at-large elections. The makeup of the city council does not reflect the diversity of the city; there is not one Latino sitting council member, violating the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA).
According to the ACLU statement, the “CVRA states that an at-large election method may not be imposed or applied if it impairs the ability of a protected class to elect candidates of its choice or influence the outcome of elections.”
According to Mike Baller, partner with Goldstein, Demchak, Baller, Borgen & Dardarian, “The remedy to this unlawful process is to create districts. A more representative city council that is responsive to the particular needs of Anaheim’s diverse communities will benefit the entire city.”
The Orange County Labor Federation, during its last two strategic planning sessions prioritized achieving district based elections where voters can have representation for their neighborhood by electing a local resident who understands the needs of the community.
We hope that the courts will recognize the injustice and create community based council districts that reflect the rich diversity of the great city of Anaheim.
We also hope this gives notice to other jurisdictions that representative democracy is essential in sustaining vibrant communities.
This is about power and not about providing a greater voice for Latinos in Anaheim. Eight districts would actually minimize opportunities for districts to be formed that would create a “Latino” seat on the council. It also limits the strength of Latino council members who might be elected to one or two seats if the size of the council is 8 members plus the Mayor. One of four gives a Latino councilmember a 25 percent stake in the city’s representation – 1 or 2 of a 9 member council is a much lower level of representation. Anyone actually listening to the experts that have addressed the citzens committee knows this fact – my family and I have watched many of the proceedings online and I attended a couple in person. We think that unions want a larger number of smaller districts to make it easier to elect their candidates regardless of their race and so they can have the ability to control Anaheim. My family has lived in the downstown area of Anaheim for two generations. We are Mexican American and we do NOT support this tactic by unions who are walking our neighborhood and lieing to our neighbors – trying to get them to believe it is about fair representation for Latinos. Most of our neighbors see through this but some believe that they will get more access and services. It’s just so sad to see people of Latino heritage used this way by all of these groups.
Of course labor supports Anaheim single member districts. They have tried to dominate all cities through the “Cal Voting Rights Act.”
Here is a recent story that confirms this point:
http://unionwatch.org/unions-will-control-mid-sized-cities-with-california-voting-rights-act/