Twentynine Palms, Yucca Valley, and Morongo Unified School District all recently received letters from a lawyer threatening legal action unless they changed the way council and board members are elected, from “at large” elections to “district” elections. The lawyer, Kevin Shenkman of Malibu, argues that “at-large” elections dilute the vote of minority voters, which violates the California Voting Rights Act because the majority white vote dilutes the votes of minorities. The 29 cities that have fought the change to district-based elections have all lost in court, and have been forced to pay Shenkman’s legal fees, which in the case of the city of Palmdale, was $4.5 million. The Twentynine Palms City Council agreed in its October 24 meeting to begin the process of switching over to district-based elections. The process entails hiring a demographer who will draw up proposed districts. The change will go into effect at the November 2018 general election. The Town of Yucca Valley has not yet announced what its council members intend to do. And this week, the Morongo Unified School District voted 4 to 1 to begin the process of changing to district elections. Managing editor Tami Roleff explains why school board member Chris Proudfoot opposed the change…
Morongo Unified School District board member Chris Proudfoot said he was opposed to changing to district-based elections because he feels it will marginalize voters, not empower them. Currently, he said, residents vote for two or three members of 5-member city councils or board of directors at each election. By changing to a district-based election, voters will be allowed to vote for only one member of each five-person board or council.
In addition, Proudfoot said Shenkman’s threat of a lawsuit is legalized extortion, “Do it or else.” Proudfoot said even if the school board goes to the single-seat districts, Shenkman will collect a $30,000 legal fee from the school district and every other city or district he has threatened to sue.
Under the California Voting Rights Act, cities and boards have 135 days from the time they are warned they are in violation of the California Voting Rights Act to make the change. However, the former mayor of Poway has sued the state and has asked for an injunction against forcing jurisdictions to make the change while the lawsuit is being litigated.
