Attention Monterey Park Residents

By Nancy C. Arcuri, Editor and Publisher

Our city is being held hostage by the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project based in Texas.

Shenkman & Hughes, their attorneys based in Malibu, are threating us with a lawsuit unless we divided our general law city into voting districts.

A copy of their letter dated October 18th putting us on notice they we will be sued if we don’t meet their demands is available on the City’s website or at the City Clerk’s office.

They are using the California Voting Rights Act of 2001 to demand that we give up our voting at large rights. We will have to vote in districts because some Latino candidates running for our City Council were not elected or re-elected.

Assembly Members Alejo, Bonta, and Roger Hernández introduced this law on January 26, 2015. Assembly Member Calderon and Senator Hueso coauthored it.  Governor Jerry Brown signed it into California.

This law has been revised several times over the years.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) all support this law.

Their actions remind all of us Americans living in California that only the residents of Latino or Hispanic heritage matter more then our residents of Asian heritage, European heritage, African heritage or Native America heritage.

They are demanding Our All American City also known as the First Suburban Chinatown to vote in Latino candidates or we may be sued because we have diluted their votes.

Monterey Park residents have always voted at large for the best people for their City Council, City Clerk and City Treasurer based on their abilities and knowledge.

Now the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project and their attorneys, Shenkman & Hughes are demanding we vote by districts.

In March 2018 our City Council authorized the City Manager to retain a consultant, Robert McIntire, to provide information regarding potential voting district for our local elections.

Our City Council voted on November 18, 2018 to adopt a Resolution To Change Our Elections Codes To Establish And Implement District Based Election For Our City Council Members.

Our City Council will be holding several Public Hearings to get mapping advise from our voters in Monterey Park.

Please check the City’s website or City Hall to find out the dates, times and locations of these very important meetings.

These meetings will be your only input since we do not get to vote on this change to our city charter.

The actions of the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project and Shenkman & Hughes, their attorneys remind me of George Orwell’s classic book “Animal Farm” with the famous quote “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”