Rex McIntosh’s July 26th op-ed claims that “a six-district single member
election system was the only solution that was both practical and would protect the City from California Voting Rights Act (CVRA) lawsuits”. It is true that such an election system could be implemented for next year’s elections and would protect the city from future CVRA lawsuits. However, single-member districts for Santa Clara City Council wouldn’t fully accomplish the purpose of voting rights laws, to allow all residents (and in particular members of “protected classes”) to be fairly represented on elected governing bodies.
The Charter Review Committee (CRC) saw that, and that is why they recommended an election system that would do a better job of representing all Santa Clarans on our City Council. Let’s hope that the plaintiffs in the current CVRA lawsuit recognize this too, and agree to a settlement in which the city admits its current violation of the CVRA and in which the remedy is based on the CRC recommendations.