LOMITA, Calif. — Voting is Gloria Gutierrez’s way of having her voice heard. She’s not only a voter, she’s also part of the League of Women Voters organization. This year, as a Lomita resident, she’s trying to map out five balanced districts for the City Council to consider.
“Majority White people, two districts with the majority of Hispanic people and one district with majority Asian, black. That’s probably what it would look like. And I think that’s what makes this kind of fun because how do you do that?” she said.
Earlier this year, a law firm sent a letter to the City of Lomita claiming the city’s at-large voting system, where residents can vote for all five City Council seats, violates the California Voting Rights Act. The legal challenge is now pushing the city to consider a switch to district voting — where residents can only vote for one council seat based on where they live. Lomita is just one of many cities in California who have faced this legal challenge. If the change is made, Gutierrez said, she’s not sure how it will impact the city.
“My hope is that this becomes a good thing. My fear is that it could make our City Council polarized, as it has happened in other places, where it becomes difficult for them to come together,” she said.
She’s also hoping it will lead to more diversity on the City Council. Ryan Smoot is Lomita’s city manager. He said the current election system has been in place for over 60 years, is fair and represents the city residents well. But the financial costs of fighting the legal challenge, he said, is more than the city will spend. That’s why they need residents like Gutierrez to help map out the districts.
“We want to make sure that if we’re going through this process, we are getting all the input that we possibly can to make sure that not only is our election process representative, not only do our council representatives continue to be representative of our community as a whole, but that our residents are involved and included in that process.”
The City of Lomita has hosted three public hearings on the matter with more on the way. Smoot urges residents to help create district maps for the City Council’s consideration. If approved by the City Council, district voting will go into effect by 2024.
“I am hoping it will increase participation in areas where we haven’t heard voices before. We’re going to get more people on the City Council that look like Lomita residents and that we’ll be able to hear from populations we haven’t in the past,” she said.
More information on public hearings or how to create a district map for consideration visit lomitacity.com.