opinion

Palm Springs can be victorious even if it is forced to change its elections

While not a done deal, it looks like Palm Springs voters will be electing their City Council representatives much differently in the future.

Spurred by a law firm’s letter that alleges the system for electing the five members of the council — including the separately elected mayor — dilutes the voting voice of minorities in violation of the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA), the Palm Springs City Council appears likely to switch to by-district voting.

Though officially the city is studying the matter closely to determine its next step, pragmatism suggests a shift to electing council members chosen by their neighbors in specifically designated areas of the city rather than the current all candidates compete citywide, regardless of residence, is coming.

Here’s why:

The city keeping its at-large system in place now that it has been challenged would be a “tough hill to climb” as that would mean prevailing in a lawsuit challenging the CVRA, City Attorney Ed Kotkin told The Desert Sun Editorial Board recently. To date, no entity sued under the CVRA for such violations has prevailed. And those court fights are costly, with the sued entity responsible for its own legal fees as well as those of the plaintiff who sued.

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Even if the city were to break that losing streak and win, it likely would cost the city painfully substantial legal fees it could not recover.

The 2001 CVRA disfavors at-large voting because such systems can dilute the voting strength of protected minority classes as the majority across an entire jurisdiction decides each election. The CVRA’s standards for proving a violation and compelling an elections switch is much less onerous on a plaintiff than in the Federal Voting Rights Act.

Beating a CVRA-based claim of “racially polarized” voting is extremely hard, as shown by the no-win record of those who’ve tried.

City Clerk Anthony Mejia clearly explained Palm Springs’ pickle in the Editorial Board session:

“When you have racially polarized voting, if the Latinos in the community predominantly, let’s say 40 percent, voted for a candidate but then across the city it was 20 percent, you’ve got racially polarized voting,” Mejia told the Editorial Board. “And the occurrence of racially polarized voting, even once, is a violation of the law.”

In perhaps the most chilling example of CVRA litigation, the City of Palmdale in 2015 decided to settle a 2012 lawsuit that challenged its at-large system. After losing at trial and then in further appeals, the city agreed to a settlement that created four districts — including two with Latino majorities — and the payment of $4.5 million in legal fees plus interest to the plaintiff’s attorneys, the same law firm that has put Palm Springs on notice. Adding in Palmdale’s own legal fees brought the case’s costs to about $6 million.

Meanwhile, the new system forced on the city didn’t change much in 60 percent Hispanic Palmdale, which went from one Latino council member (who had been appointed) to one Latino member (elected) now.

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Pragmatically, we agree that the likely decision of moving to by-district elections is the right move. Councilmembers Lisa Middleton and Geoff Kors, who make up the council subcommittee exploring the city’s response, suggest it would be irresponsible for any council member to press a fight, regardless of how it might affect their personal election prospects, due to the potential catastrophe a clearly “longshot” struggle could mean.

In addition, the optics of such a battle against a claim for minority voting rights wouldn’t be great for a community that prides itself on its inclusion and diversity and that last year became the first city in the nation with an all-LGBT — albeit also all-white — council.

It’s a shame that this expected change will have come after a threat from law firm that has been making a pretty penny singling out jurisdictions, including Indio and Cathedral City of late, as its targets from its home base of 86 percent white, $123,000 median income Malibu. A truly grassroots and cooperative effort seeking to rework Palm Springs’ elective processes would’ve been preferable.

Now that it appears we’re here, the council should use this as an opportunity to make this process as inclusive as possible to draw the best lines to give all members of the community a true voice in their government. Agreeing to a by-district change, as did Indio and Cathedral City, should give the council the chance to direct the process in a thoughtful way rather than have a solution imposed on the city.

In addition, city residents must take the initiative and get involved. Go to the meetings — there should be many — and critique the suggestions put out by the council as it works the process. Add your own maps to the mix, if need be.

Palm Springs, which has in many ways become a beacon for the rest of the nation when it comes to tolerance and activism, sadly has a mixed past when it comes to race relations.

Some 15 years after the city elected Ron Oden as the nation’s first openly gay, African-American mayor, Kors, Middleton and City Manager David Ready acknowledge there’s more work to be done. They told the Editorial Board that the city could be doing better when it comes to people of color in city positions and serving on various boards and commissions.

A smartly created by-district elections system would benefit the community and help correct some of these shortcomings.