LOS CERRITOS COMMUNITY BREAKING NEWS!
By Randy Economy
Reporter
Los Cerritos Community News
www.loscerritosnews.net
Norwalk, CA
3:58 p.m.
Proponents of a plan to carve up
Cerritos College
into seven different voting districts have filed a lawsuit against the
Cerritos
Community College District.Z
The action, filed on behalf of
former Cerritos College Trustee Carmen Avalos, former candidate Tom
Chavez, and Downey resident Leonard Zuniga claim that the long held
tradition of “at-large elections dilute the voting strength of
Latino
voters.”
Attorney Mike Baller, who represents the three plaintiffs,
claim that the 55-year system of electing Cerritos College Trustees at
large from the electorate creates “racially polarizing voting.”
The
Cerritos Community College District currently oversees 11 communities in
the greater Southeast
Los Angeles County region stretching from La
Mirada on the east, to parts of South Gate on the East, and to Downey
and nearly 2/3rd of the voters in Norwalk.
In a statement to the
media, the three plaintiffs claim that Cerritos College
Board of
Trustees is “controlled” by a “small minority of the District’s
residents who live or are active in the
City of Cerritos, although 12
cities are located entirely or partially within the District’s
boundaries.”
Avalos is a former City Clerk from the City of South
Gate who was also a former one-term member of the Board of Trustees
before she was defeated in 2009. Chavez, a resident of Norwalk, who
also ran unsuccessfully in 2007 also lost his attempt to win election in
2007 inspite of having a well funded campaign that included heavy
backing from several Democratic Party leaders, and from union and labor
organizations.
Avalos and Chavez lost the 2009 election to incumbents
Robert Hughlett, a past two-time Mayor of Cerritos, and the late Robert
Epple, from Bellflower who was a former long time trustee and elected
member of the California State Assembly. Epple passed away in 2010 and
his seat is now being held by appointed incumbent Jean McHatton, who is
also a resident of Cerritos and a well known area educator with more
than 30 years experience in the field of education and who has a long
track record of involvement at Cerritos College.
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| Will Cerritos College get carved up into seven news trustee districts? Randy Economy LCCN Photo |
Also elected in
2009 was Dr. Shin Liu, a popular college instructor from
Rio Hondo
College who is also a resident of Cerritos, and who is Korean-American.
The
lawsuit claims that “as a result of racially polarized voting, Latino
voters, especially those in areas outside the City of Cerritos, are
unable to elect candidates of their choice and candidates responsive to
their interests in the District’s programs.”
"This legal action is
premature and does not recognize the Board's work on the election issue,
and defending the district in this lawsuit will be very costly to
taxpayers while the Board is already taking a course of action. The
lawsuit is totally unnecessary," said Dr. Linda Lacy,
President/Superintendent of Cerritos College, "especially at a time when
we need every dollar we have to support the educational program at the
college."
Avalos, Zuniga and Chavez said that the 24,000 students who attend Cerritos College are “substantially over 50% Latino.”
Cerritos College spokesperson Aya Abelon confirmed that the current population of the student body is at 53% Latino.
Backers
of the lawsuit claim that
2010 US Census data shows that the Cerritos
College District boundaries include a population of 431,048, and that
half of them claim to be of “Latino” ancestry.
Attorney Baller claim
that “only a few” Latinos , have been elected, “just three since 1995,”
as a result, his clients contend that “racially polarized voting
patterns” have occurred in past Cerritos College
District board
elections.
“Racially polarized voting occurs when non-minority members of the electorate do not
support
minority candidates, and when there is a large difference in the level
of support for minority candidates between minority and non-minority
portions of the electorate.,” Baller said in a statement to Los Cerritos
Community News.
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