García: East Side — Do the right thing for fair election reform

The California Voting Rights Act of 2001 specifically “prohibits the use of an at-large election in a political subdivision if it would impair the ability of a protected class, as defined, to elect candidates of its choice.” Protected class is defined in the act as voters who are members of a race, color or language minority group. In other words, the law focuses on fair representation for all communities in local elections.

Earlier this spring, the East Side Union High School District board of trustees adopted a resolution to establish a vote-by-trustee area election process in place of the current at-large system. Taking this action will comply with the  California Voting Rights Act and better serve the diverse population of the district. The board retained Redistricting Partners, a demographer and public engagement consultant, to guide the transition.

Redistricting Partners reached out to the East Side community in order to develop an election map that would include five trustee areas and meet the law and the spirit of the California Voting Rights Act. The firm created three maps for consideration at upcoming community meetings on June 26 and July 15. Unfortunately, adoption of either of the proposed maps is probably in violation of the act and clearly doesn’t ensure fair representation. The school board needs to reconsider its options before taking final action.

The demographic analysis of the East Side Union High School District is 40% Asian, 38% Latino, 17% White, 3% Black and 0.7% Native American. With the Asian and Latino communities representing nearly 80% of the district’s population, one would conclude that two trustee areas should be predominantly Asian and two areas with a Latino majority. Map A prepared by Redistricting Partners reflects one majority Latino area and four Asian areas. Maps B and C include one Latino and three Asian majority areas.

As a former trustee and board president who fought for student equity at the East Side Union High School District, the current process and proposed maps to establish a vote-by-trustee area system are troublesome, especially with respect to Latino representation. Getting this right is important. Board decisions impact students’ lives and future opportunities.

In 2010, I led a unanimous board to adopt a policy that made college entrance requirements the district’s default curriculum. Not only has the policy increased the number of all East Side Union High School District students eligible for college, the rate of Latino student eligibility has doubled since the 2010-2011 school year. If not for my experience as an East Side student who was discouraged from attending college by a counselor, consideration of such a dramatic and controversial policy change would not have been possible. Fair and equal representation matter.

There are some who will say the maps were created as such because of the lack of Latino participation in the process. Others claim Redistricting Partners didn’t conduct proper outreach in the Latino community. Both statements may be true, but neither solves the fundamental problem with the proposed maps. All three are likely in violation of the California Voting Rights Act and may result in costly litigation. More importantly, the proposed maps are blatantly unfair.

The East Side Union High School District board of trustees should scrap the proposed maps and re-engage the community or take into consideration maps submitted by the public. One such map, entitled “Equity for All,” clearly complies with the California Voting Rights Act and meets the spirit of fairness for all. Either way, the board of trustees needs to take its time and do the right thing on this long overdue election reform.

Eddie García served as president of the East Side Union High School District board of trustees in 2010 and as trustee from 2006-2010.