FILIPINO AMERICANS SEE CHANGES THEY SOUGHT
On Nov. 8, National City held its first-ever district elections. They occurred on the one-year anniversary date of when Filipino American residents Ditas Yamane and Florfina Arce demanded the city switch its election system from “at-large” (or citywide) to voting in which members of four specific districts choose their individual representatives. The Filipino American community and other groups joined their efforts to bring change.
Under the California Voting Rights Act, a city may be required to abandon an electoral system that has unlawful discriminatory effects. National City was the perfect case in point. It had had one of the highest concentrations of Filipino Americans in the country for many years — approximately 20 percent. In one section of the city, the Filipino American population is 35 percent. In other California cities, similar percentages of “communities of interest” — those that share common social and economic interests — were high enough to transition to district voting.
Yet the city had elected just one person of Filipino descent in the prior 20 years. Although a Filipino American was appointed to fill a vacancy in 2002, he lost his election bid two years later under National City’s then at-large election system. In the last 55 years, the city elected just two persons of Filipino descent. These statistics only look worse when considering there are numerous elected positions available, including five seats on the City Council, a city clerk and a city treasurer. In a letter to the city clerk, Yamane and Arce cited these statistics as evidence of racially polarized voting.
However, Mayor Alejandra Sotelo-Solis and the City Council described the complaints in Resolution 2021 as “unsubstantiated allegations.” And without citing any evidence, the council claimed that National City had a “history of inclusionary voting.” Jose Rodriguez was the lone council member to publicly question these findings at the special meeting on Dec. 21 when the resolution was adopted.
Nonetheless, the mayor and City Council agreed to the residents’ demands and adopted district elections at that meeting. But rather than acknowledging the community’s grievances, they cited the high cost of litigation as the primary reason to adopt district elections. Many local governments in California have been sued over discriminatory voting rules and agreed to change their election practices. While that was a positive result for the Filipino American community, it fell short of acknowledging the history of political disempowerment.
But the recent elections validated this history. Yamane, a longtime resident who had run several unsuccessful citywide campaigns, won her election in District 3 with 59 percent of the vote. That district has the highest percentage of Filipinos in the city, at 35 percent.
By contrast, she won about 13 percent of the vote in the 2020 atlarge elections, most likely splitting her community votes with another Filipino American candidate. In her 2018 bid for mayor, Yamane placed second with about 29 percent of the vote.
Now, the Filipino American community has a representative on the National City City Council because of district voting.
This switch should positively impact other communities of interest as well. Running unopposed, Luz Molina, seeking a council seat for the first time, was elected to represent District 1 and its westside constituents. Those constituents were also vocal about their interests when the district lines were drawn. Yamane and Molina will now be separate, distinct and powerful voices for their respective districts.
But National City’s power structure is impacted even further by this election. With a few exceptions, the last term often saw 3-2 votes on major issues, with Sotelo-Solis, Mona Rios and Marcus Bush consistently voting together. Now, Yamane will essentially replace Rios, a close ally of Mayor SoteloSolis who lives in District 3 but decided not to run for re-election. Sotelo-Solis lost her bid for reelection as mayor.
With a different mayor and Yamane and Molina joining the City Council, we might finally see the political system work in National City the way it should in a democracy: with more minority groups and “communities of interest” having a stronger voice. Council members will be accountable to constituents in their districts, and less so to citywide special interests. And with District 2 and 4 up for election in 2024, the change is just beginning.
The political landscape of National City is likely to have changed forever. It will see new and more diverse candidates running for office, hopefully bringing fresh ideas. That is a true democracy.
Council members in National City will now be accountable to constituents in their districts, and less so to citywide special interests.
De Castro is an attorney who represented Yamane and Arce in their push to change National City’s election practices. He lives in San Diego.