Voting-Rights Suit Is Dismissed

A judge has dismissed a federal voting-rights lawsuit against Santa Paula, closing a contentious three-year battle over Latinos’ electoral clout in the small farm town.

The government’s lawsuit alleged that the city’s at-large voting system violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and perpetuated racial discrimination by preventing Latino candidates from being elected to the City Council.

A dismissal was expected after the government and the Santa Paula City Council agreed in August to settle the lawsuit by allowing voters in this mostly Latino city to decide next year whether to keep at-large elections or to switch to a district system.

That ballot question will go to voters in November 2002.

Still, Mayor Don Johnson said he was relieved to hear about U.S. District Court Judge George King’s dismissal order, signed Thursday.

Fighting over the issue has divided white and Latino leaders and cost the financially strapped city $500,000 in legal fees.

“It’s just a shame that this community, which can use every penny it has, had to spend that kind of money for something it did not do wrong,” Johnson said.

The lawsuit was dismissed with a provision that allows the U.S. Justice Department to file new allegations in the future.

“We make no judgment one way or another whether that would occur or not,” said a Justice Department official, who asked not to be identified. “What we will do is wait to see what factual circumstances develop in the future.”

A significant factor in the government’s willingness to settle was the growing number of voters with Latino surnames, the official said.

When the suit was filed, the Latino voting population in the city was estimated at 45%. City officials now estimate Latinos make up 52% of the city’s registered voters.

Federal prosecutors also said city voters last fall enacted a growth-control measure that blocked a huge housing development that was expected to attract more whites to Santa Paula and dilute Latino voting power.

The city’s lawyer in the case, John McDermott, said, “It doesn’t make any sense to talk about vote dilution when you are the majority of voters. That percentage is only going to get bigger, because it has been growing steadily at 2% to 3% a year.”

Councilwoman Laura Flores Espinosa, one of the panel’s two Latino members, said she is satisfied with the outcome of the litigation. Flores Espinosa, who supports district elections, said residents have learned a lot because of the lawsuit.