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A Victory for Democracy in Whittier California

A years-long struggle to eliminate an undemocratic system of at-large voting in Whittier California has resulted in an historic victory for the community. Democrat Josue Alvarado has won a hard-fought electoral campaign to become the first person elected to represent Whittier’s newly configured Council One. He is only the second Latino to hold a council seat in that city in 118 years!

Community organizers canvassing neighborhoods and registering voters to empower them.,

Alvarado defeated two Republicans through the efforts of a solid grassroots campaign led by the Whittier Latino Coalition, the Whittier Voters Coalition and other allied groups and community activists. Alvarado’s campaign also had to struggle against a hostile slate led by the incoming Republican mayor and a well-funded slander offensive aimed at him by his opponent. This new council seat and the subsequent victorious campaign by Alvarado are the culmination of an intense uphill struggle by community activists who have waged legal and political battles for close to fifteen years. This stiff resistance to change was led and organized by Whittier’s entrenched economic and political establishment that at one time constituted a white majority but which is now a minority. Latinos now represent 67 percent of the city’s population and as taxpayers they are demanding equal representation and a political voice in government that can formulate policies which benefit their neighborhoods. The successful legal and political battles that have overturned the old anti-democratic order of at-large voting and mandated the creation of a new equitable system of voting by districts have now been complemented by Alvarado’s political victory in the newly created District One. These are only the first steps to eliminate voter suppression and provide democratic representation to the majority of Whittier’s population as there are other new city districts that also need to be democratized.

Whittier: a history of segregation and disenfranchised Latino voters

The Whittier political establishment and its economic supporters have succeeded in keeping Mexican-Americans out of the city council for 118 years. This has been accomplished by previous decades of segregation that maintained white supremacy and political domination. Preserving this domination meant using tactics of voter suppression and a system of at-large voting which diluted the votes of Whittier’s working-class Mexican-American community and essentially disenfranchised them. This century-long denial of the right to representation has prevented their equitable participation in city government as well as a political voice to articulate the specific needs of their community. Such a traditional lack of representation has also reduced voter turnout over the years. In decades past, community members had become disillusioned with voting for the status quo system which had ignored them as taxpayers and provided inadequate city services for their families. The undemocratic system of at-large voting was designed to diminish the voting power of ethnic groups who usually constitute a minority while in Whittier this system of control had been imposed upon Latinos who are now the majority. Despite the demographic transition in Whittier from a larger white population in the past to one that constitutes a minority today, the well-financed power elite that controls city government has been adept at using the system of at-large voting to maintain their economic and political control over the emerging Latino majority. The use of such a backward electoral system has traditionally permitted all voters to cast ballots for any seat up for election and this has had the effect of reducing the votes of minority ethnic groups as was the case in Whittier. For over a century, this rigged system prevented Whittier’s Latinos from electing a candidate that truly represented their community and the real needs of its constituents.

Grassroots legal and political campaigns led the struggle for equal representation

A long struggle by community activists in Whittier has attempted to change this entrenched and unjust electoral system of at-large voting. Over the years they have tried to persuade local government officials to make the voting system more representative and democratic for all residents of the city. These requests for change were rejected by the political establishment and their financial supporters as this would have meant an equitable sharing of tax revenues, resources, transparency in city contracts and a fair allocation of services to all residents. This refusal to change a century-long archaic and unfair voting system eventually led to protracted legal and political struggles which were waged against the city by community groups and civil rights advocates. In June of 2014, the city government placed a proposition on the ballot to let voters decide whether to change the old system. A majority voted in favor of changing the voting system and the Whittier city government subsequently decided to settle a legal case pending against them and finally eliminate at-large voting. Continuing to resist a pending lawsuit filed against the city by civil rights advocates and possibly losing would have meant that the city of Whittier would have been liable for paying a large amount of legal fees to the plaintiffs. The successful campaign to abolish the old voting system and elect Alvarado to represent District One was accomplished by an alliance of progressive and multi-ethnic community activists and other volunteers who not only held meetings, but most importantly, took concrete political action to achieve real change. Their grassroots campaign and strong outreach tripled the previous rate of total voter turnout and ensured victory for the residents of the new district. After consolidating this victory, the next political move will be to begin implementing a platform of needed changes in District One which include improved city services such as street lighting, trash collection and public safety.

This historic victory is a part of a larger struggle for equal rights and democracy

The historic and victorious campaign effort to abolish at-large voting and expand democratic rights in Whittier is part of a broader struggle of similar political movements that are also breaking out in other cities. Within recent years such struggles have occurred in Modesto and Santa Clarita California. Meanwhile, the residents of Anaheim are now preparing to organize a political battle against the system of at-large voting in their city which could involve powerful resistance by the hotel industry and the Disney Corporation. Equitable representation and the democratic right to vote are still being suppressed in many towns and cities throughout the country by small elites who want to maintain political power either for racial motives or financial gain. This has been a consistent trend throughout history as small ruling groups constantly attempt to defend their privileges and control the democratic aspirations of the majority in an unjust manner. There is a well-organized Republican national campaign being carried out whose strategy includes the support of blatant voter suppression combined with defending at-large voting systems. The political objective of this strategy is to reduce voting by minority groups and particularly Democrats since a low voter turnout benefits these small financial elites and the less numerous Republican Party. The victorious residents of Whittier and their campaign for grassroots democracy are an example that should be replicated and expanded to other areas of the country. Such a struggle for real democracy against small and entrenched groups of well-financed elites needs to be organized in our cities, states and nationally in order to break their stranglehold on the political system. When applied to local and national conditions, this example and democratic spark ignited by the pro-active residents of Whittier can electrify a pro-democracy movement in other areas so that the majority can take back government from the small moneyed clique of oligarchs and institute real democracy from the bottom up.

Jimmy Franco Sr. is the moderator and writer of the blog site: "A Latino Point of View in Today's World" www.latinopov.com

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