San Leandro is Violating the Voting Rights Act

(Art by HEBSTREITS)

The city of San Leandro is in violation of the California Voting Rights Act.

Our rejection of district-based local elections and continued use of the at-large system prevents us from having a truly representative city council that advocates for everyone in our city. To understand why, we need to take a short trip to LA County and the case of the Pico Neighborhood Association v. The City of Santa Monica. A recent decision from the California State Supreme Court determined that Black and Latino voters in the area were being systemically disenfranchised and BIPOC candidates were unable to afford to run for office. The court further found that the local government, as well as some courts, "misconstrued" what the CVRA requires, sending the case back for review and equitable resolution in favor of the plaintiff's civil rights.

San Leandro's at-large elections weaken the power of the different communities and neighborhoods that make up our city to choose their own representatives, marginalizing voters (especially BIPOC), and diluting the voting power of those living in less wealthy or influential neighborhoods.

Why should those living in Estudillo Estates or Broadmoor get to decide who represents the people of the Manor or the Marina? Because of this system, it costs over $30,000 just to run for city council. Candidates spend more time campaigning outside of the district where they live and taking money from special interests that don't invest in those districts, instead of getting support from people they're supposed to be advocating for. It's why the Manor pool and Marina improvement projects never got the appropriate priority they needed. It's why road fixes for pedestrian safety aren't happening in Laqua by Halkin and John Muir schools. It's why we spend more time fighting about parking near Bancroft than expanding public transit to serve the west side of the city.

This isn't what participatory democracy looks like and it will cost us more than just our right to representative government. We need to move to district-based elections.

Even our City Attorney at Meyers Nave recognizes the risks posed by at-large elections. Their website has an entire section outlining that all at-large systems can be challenged under the CVRA and, because of the public interests involved, there is a low bar to prove that at-large elections dilute people's votes. "Further, public entities that are unsuccessful in defending a legal challenge to their voting system can be on the hook for paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in their own legal bills as well as those of the victorious plaintiff." If we continue to ignore the problems in our local at-large system, if we don't make the necessary change to district-based elections, we will eventually find ourselves facing a lawsuit with the courts doing it for us. Meanwhile, we the people will be paying for it, instead of funding services that our city desperately depends upon, from roads and public safety to housing and jobs.

I hope city leaders are paying attention.

Let's build a better San Leandro for everyone.

Take note and take care.