District-based elections are coming in 2022
La Verne is poised to transition from at-large to districtbased voting, a move that would change how residents elect their City Council members in 2022.
On Tuesday, the City Council unanimously voted to initiate the process of creating district maps and implementing a new election system by Dec. 15 to be in effect for the next general municipal election in June 2022.
With district-based voting, a possible structure would include having five council seats, with a rotating mayor and mayor protem position appointed by the council. Under this format, the city would be divided into five districts, and each voter within a district may cast one vote for a candidate residing within that district.
City leaders left the door open to keeping just four council districts, however, and electing a mayor citywide. That decision will wait as the community and council offer input over the next few months.
The decision to change the city’s election format comes after meetings in December 2020 to review La Verne’s obligations under the California Voting Rights Act. Under the act, public agencies can be sued whenever “racially polarized voting” can be shown in their system of electing their representatives.
While the city has not yet received a demand letter from a law firm or group, Councilmember Muir Davis said the city could face litigation costs upwards of $30,000 and it would be better for La Verne to begin the process of reviewing its elections on its own terms.
“This current format isn’t the way La Verne has always been, this is not new but it hasn’t been used for the 100 years we’ve been in existence,” Davis said. “This lets me know that La Verne is adaptable and we can adopt this new method.”
Since 1974, at-large elections have taken place within the city, which Davis said is reason enough to give a new format a shot.
Additionally, having a mayor elected separately from the council has become “more politicized” in recent years, Davis said. The current format has created a perspective that one elected official is more important than the others and has led to a more animus governing process, he added.
“We have the opportunity now to reform our council to become both more collegial and more civil,” Davis said.
Councilmember Wendy Lau agreed the transition to district-based elections would benefit the city as a whole, and could appeal to residents who want to be part of the political process. Changing the city’s election format could open the door to more candidates who previously may have not considered running for council due to the cost of seeking a citywide office, she said.
“We have a community of very smart people who could very well sit in any one of these seats as easily as we do and
sometimes the only thing precluding them is the cost of admission,” Lau said. “I think providing that diversity of voices is important to this city.”
Part of the council’s resolution includes allocating $50,000 to hire a demographics firm to guide the city through the process. A consultant would create a dedicated website to update the public on the process and access allow people to submit their own ideas for how districts should be drawn.
At least two public hearings would be held before draft district maps are drawn and at least two more after draft district maps are completed, according to a city staff report.
Community input is a crucial component of the process, Mayor Tim Hepburn said Tuesday. While the city will spend the next few months preparing for this change, he said it will ultimately represent the “community better.”
“We’re just deciding to give this as a path for our residents,” Hepburn said.
In California, more than 150 of the state’s 482 cities have transitioned from at-large to districtbased elections. Locally, most neighboring cities have switched to dis- trict-based voting or have agreed to do so, including San Dimas, Claremont, Ontario, Upland, Rancho Cucamonga, Chino, Chino Hills and Fontana. Pomona has had district elections since the 1990s.