Another lawsuit against Farmers Branch

This time it's over their at-large City Council system, which the plaintiffs claim dilutes Hispanic voting strength.

Their attorneys, Rolando Rios of San Antonio and Domingo Garcia of Dallas, drew up a set of single-members districts that they contend would include one Hispanic-majority district.

"We believe the current at-large system of electing Farmers Branch City Council members makes it almost impossible for minority candidates to get elected," Mr. Garcia said.

The lawsuit contends that had single-member districts been in place last May, Jose Galvez, the first Hispanic to run for the council, would have been elected.

[...]

"The basic problem the plaintiffs have is, under the law, in order to maintain their suit, they have to be able to show that you can draw a single-member district with a Hispanic or Latino citizen voting-age population majority," [Bob Heath, representing the city,] said.

"We don't think you can do that."

He said that although there may be clusters of Latinos in the city, residents of voting age are widely dispersed.

A similar lawsuit thirty-some years ago is how Houston wound up with single-member districts. I doubt that having a single Hispanic on their City Council would have prevented Farmers Branch from pursuing its xenophobic anti-immigrant policies, but it at least would have given those being demonized a voice in the process. The lawsuit is set to come to trial on May 8. Link via South Texas Chisme.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on April 14, 2008 to Show Business for Ugly People