
(Simi Valley, Ca) Simi Valley may be moving to election districts after a letter was sent to the city by a local advocacy group requesting the change.
On August 6, 2018, the City received a letter from attorney Kevin J. Shenkman, on behalf of his client, Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, requesting that the City move to district-based elections. Mr. Shenkman is well-known for threatening litigation against numerous cities if those cities refuse to change from an at-large voting system to a by-district voting system.
Currently, Simi Valley has four Council Members and a Mayor, all elected at-large, for a total of five Council Members. On August 13, 2018, due to the threat of litigation as set forth in the letter, the matter was placed on the City Council closed session agenda, however by a unanimous vote, the City Council decided to not have discussion in closed session and to place the entire matter in open session for consideration at the next Council meeting, which was on August 27.
Background to District-Based Elections
The law states, “Plaintiffs may challenge an “at large” voting system under the Federal Voting Rights Act 53 U.S.C. Section 10301 et seq. (“FVRA”). Plaintiffs must show that:
Opposition to District Based Elections
Opponents of districting have sent in information which the city shared at its August 27 meeting. Darlene Galluzo, a local disability advocate, stated the following:
“I am not able to attend tonight’s council meeting but I would like you to know that I am opposed to Any changes to the structure of our city council or the way we choose our council members. I have lived in Simi Valley for 55 years and the system we have in place has served our city well for almost 50 years and I resent an outside group coming in and making threats of a lawsuit.
Ventura County Local News. Oxnard, Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Ventura, Santa Paula, Moorpark. Visit us for the latest local news information for Ventura County at www.thevoicecalifornia.com
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