14) Garden Grove District Map
This year, for the first time, Garden Grove will implement district-based elections in order to comply with the California Voter Rights Act. Supporters claim that the new system will encourage more citizen participation and neighbor-to-neighbor representation in city government, but some concern exists as to if the new system is fair to all ethnicities in the city. Further, while the new system is intended to improve voter involvement, only one of the council races is providing voters a choice.
The Numbers:
Total Voters: 68, 701 (38% Dem., 33% Rep., 27% Indep.)
Notable Racial Make Up: 31% Vietnamese, 24% Latino
What we are watching?
In July 2015, Garden Grove resident Rickk Montoya filed a lawsuit against the City asserting that the City’s at-large method of electing City Council members violated the California Voting Rights Act. Just two months later, the City Council announced a settlement that replaced the at-large system with a district based approach for the five-member city council beginning in November of 2016. The settlement also included payment of $290,000 for Montoya’s costs and legal fees. (City of Garden Grove) The original settlement changed the Mayor’s seat to a position appointed by the council; a system used in several other cities in Orange County. However, the direct-election of the Mayor has since been reinstituted.
Once the city had committed to a district-based system, a months long process ensued in order to determine the appropriate outlining of the new districts. At issue in the map debate was the process of divvying up the city so as to provide ample representation for the city’s Vietnamese (a plurality in the city) and Latino communities. The Montoya lawsuit claimed that Garden Grove residents of Latino background were denied effective political participation in Garden Grove City Council elections. Latino residents make up 37 percent of Garden Grove’s total population but have never held elected office in the city. (Voice of OC)
Out of four options considered, 25-year old resident Kim Nyguen drafted the map that was unanimously approved for the city council in April. Despite the unanimous council approval, and support from several prominent local groups, ardent opposition remains to the map. The area of greatest disagreement is the city’s central corridor. Nguyen’s map divides central Garden Grove into one district north of Chapman Avenue and two districts south of the street, divided by Brookhurst Street. The map received enthusiastic support from some residents because it set aside two districts on the east side that were majority Latino, as well as two districts south of Chapman that are majority Asian. However, opponents claimed that using Brookhurst Street to split districts 3 and 4 was an attempt to maintain Vietnamese influence as it gives that constituency a likely two votes on the council. “I’m not prejudiced. However, when you look at [districts] three and four, they look like a Vietnamese power grab,” resident John Wildsmith told Voice of OC.
Yet many involved in the debate point out that Nguyen’s map represents the best attempt at compromise and it is even supported by the city’s demographer, David Ely. Mr. Ely told Voice of OC: “It’s not an issue of ethnicity. It’s the nature of the existing participation rates in those communities in the way that communities connect with each other…The concept of packing and issues of vote dilution are only legitimately addressed in the context of a community that’s unable to elect candidates of their choice.”
While residents wait to see how the new map plays out politically, the hopes that the newly adopted system would catalyze greater voter involvement hasn’t been helped by the lack of competitive races. First, popular incumbent councilmen Chris Phan, has elected to not run for the District 5 seat. Instead Phan has endorsed Parks, Recreation and Arts Commissioner Stephanie Klopfenstein in the race for District 5 against newcomer Demian Garcia-Monroy. The District 2 seat will go to IBEW Local 441 rep John O’Neill since he is running unopposed. District 3-one of those Vietnamese strongholds-is a race between Lou Correa protégé Diedre Thu-Ha Nguyen and Scientologist Clay Bock. Finally, in perhaps the most interesting race in the cycle, Rickk Montoya, lead plaintiff of the lawsuit that motivated the change to district voting, faces off against new district map creator Kim Nguyen.