This is a rebuttal to Dale Francisco’s op/ed in Noozhawk titled “With Santa Barbara District Elections Ahead, Beware the Pros — and Cons” and public servants who evade the civic law and public education.
Yes, it is correct that the City of Santa Barbara was civilly brought before Judge Donna Geck in Department #4 for not adhering and observing the California Voting Right Act (CVRA) and as per Elections Code Section 14,025 and thereof. The plaintiffs’ names are Sebastian Aldana Jr., Frank Banales Jr., Jacqueline Inda, Benjamin Cheverez and me, because of the historical underrepresentation of political public servants who look like us.
The plaintiffs under Superior Case #1468167 have legally won. Brown lives matter in SB! Like, White lives matter, tambien! Black lives matter! Like, Native Americans lives matters, A’ho all mis relaciones to all! All lives matter.
It’s simple, Dale Francisco. We sued the City of Santa Barbara as individuals but in a collective manner as city voters for violating the CVRA law. Gracias to the La Law firm. The city with your City Council colleagues legally and silently acquiesced to quickly resolving and brushing aside the litigation proceedings and trial. To hush-up. Shhhhh! The very fact that this little lovely charter polity has political deficiencies through polarized-racial votes and the obvious “cover-up” with the historical institutional public racism within our voting process in the City of Santa Barbara.
This is why this civic case is a legal win for the plaintiffs and other Americans. History is important.
It is called vote dilution. It is called racial-polarized voting. That is a very bad political thing for the City of Santa Barbara and the democratic voting process. We failed to realize “one voto and one persona” than the plaintiffs’ constitutional recourse was to legally fix what the political status quo had failed to do.
If we all took his line of reasoning, Francisco duly warns and places his pessimistic cynicism to the same political structure he’s to uphold with “integrity and loyalty and constitutionally.” He pledges more of a duty of divisiveness to our citizenry in the city boundaries with his opinion piece of May 3, but then legislatively acts otherwise.
The Santa Barbara City Council and its stipulated settlement and any future passage of local legislation through “Resolution No. #15-019” is to implement district-based elections in the City of Santa Barbara. Legally, the SB CVRA Caso before the court is being resolved for the mere and only constitutional fact, that the at-large elections was unconstitutional and a more constitutional voting system that allows for “equal protection” and “due process” legally takes it’s natural political course with a voting system which is governed by district-based elections. You get it. Told you so. I said it in my past electoral candidacy campaigns of 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2013.
Dale Francisco, you are wrong. No city is a target. In the law there is no city or county or state in this nation that does not adhere to the USA Constitution, the Federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 or, regionally, the California Voting Rights Act of 2001. Let’s remember your perspective is reflective of a class mentality based on race and economics and miseducation. We the people need the same political service and have the same political determination to make Santa Barbara better. Do not fight the future, it will be our history.
The purpose of the CVRA law with prevailing attorneys is to allow political underdogs, underrepresented political constituencies, or a “protected class of citizenry” the afforded legal protections. It legally permits to have legal electoral advocates to litigate with political jurisdictions to create better democracies in all jurisdictions that need more Chicano political power, black political power and, in some communities, the CVRA will help white political power with attorney fees. The CVRA law will pay attorneys fees if such is the present case as in the political dis-equity in the City of Santa Barbara. Our destiny is politically and spiritually and connected to these native lands, as we all are only caretakers of Mother Earth and caretakers and in service for all Santa Barbarians? Right, Dale?
It happens to be as a public servant, Dale Francisco never requested a public release of Doug Johnson’s expert reports and research. Was not the demographic reports paid with taxpayer monies? If the City of Santa Barbara paid prevailing attorney’s fees to Cappello & Noel LLC and said ex-city attorney Alfred Barry Cappello, why would Dale Francisco, as a City Council member, or his other council colleagues not request an “itemization and an accounting” of “all attorney billable hours” before crying wind about public funds from taxpayers being spent?
We have a right to see how our taxpayers’ funds are spent? How was it spent? It is always really nice to be a Monday quarterback while not playing in the Sunday game and avoiding from being mentally tackled or intellectually blocked for your defensive non-ideas and your educational public-official outreach opinion piece, after-the-fact, what an offensive position. It does not make logical sense, but it is politically poor when no perspective was offered during the litigation proceedings and irregular court process — therefore here is my rebuttal.
Factoids: Pros of DBE in SB vs. At-Large Elections
Council member(s) live in and are elected by a district.
District constituents/neighborhoods have more of a political voice on the City Council.
Candidate campaign cost and expenses are lower during municipal election(s).
SB’s DBElections through the CVR Act of 2001 provides the protected-class of voters to secure access to the political process.
SB’s DBElections increases minority electoral candidate representation under FVRA Section §5.
SB’s DBElections are more accessible to persons who are limited English-proficiency and who belong to an applicable minority language class.
SB’s DBElections sistema creates more diversity and greater opportunity for community-oriented candidates or neighborhood based representatives.
SB’s DBElections re-allocates Santa Barbarians political power to be based in community and not politicians.
SB’s DBElections sistema will provide assurance that each council member(s) will focus more attention on it’s geographical-voting-constituency and particular district.
SB’s DBElections make it more likely that a Voter will personally canvass “ground campaign” by city council candidates instead of not canvassing amongst the candidates with the at large sistema.
SB’s DBElections makes “walking district” more feasible and designates a council member.
SB’s DBElections allows for FVRA Section §2 and §203
SB’s DBElections allows for political equalitarianism.
DBE creates: 1.) Accountability, all forms; 2.) Engagement, all forms; 3.) City Council district-representatives primary focus is to her or his district, thus public-advocacy starts in each city council member(s) district and subsides outwardly to the other districts to work with colleagues.
The Cons of At-Large
SB’s At-Large Elections creates racially-polarized voting and produces low-voter-turnout because of vote by mail system in the city. This is negative that can become a positive.
SB’s At-Large Elections has RPVoting to defeat “candidates of choice.”
SB’s At-Large Elections consistently and statistically exhibited RPVoting.
SB’s At-Large Elections always has a pool of candidates and with many losers and a few winners.
SB’s At-Large Elections are “non-partisan” in word but not in electoral campaign action; candidates run as nominees of a political party but local candidates should run as truly “non-partisan” and as Santa Barbarian voter(s) representing his or her district.
SB’s At-Large Elections make it less likely that a Voter will personally canvass “ground campaign” by city council candidates all districts.
SB’s At-Large Elections makes “walking precinct” more unfeasible.
SB’s At-Large Elections versus Presidential elections cuts voter-turnout nearly in half ½ or less 50 percent. Dr. Zolton L. Hajnal in his book America’s Uneven Democracy: Race, Turnout, and Representation in City Politics (NY: Cambridge Univ. Press)
SB’s At-Large Elections has had a negative impact on the young voters, majority-minority vote, and the socioeconomically and lower-income voters.
SB’s At-Large Elections causes vote dilution of voting power of our protected-class of voters.
SB’s At-Large Elections has had one or more neighborhoods over-represented on the City Council.
— Cruzito Herrera Cruz is a Santa Barbara City Council candidate.