Cypress will be changing the way they elect city officials ahead of the November 2024 election, agreeing late Wednesday to settle a California Voting Rights lawsuit alleging their current election system disenfranchises Asian American voters.
The settlement means Cypress will switch from their at-large election system to a by-district election system – something a majority of officials have been vocal against but are now opting to do to avoid a fight in court they no longer think they can win.
No city in the state so far has been able to maintain an at-large election system after a California Voting Rights Act challenge.
Cypress City Council members narrowly voted 4-1 at a special meeting Wednesday to settle the lawsuit and make the switch despite a majority of them speaking out vigorously against district elections.
Mayor Scott Minikus was the sole dissenting vote, publicly placing blame on Councilmembers David Burke and Frances Marquez – the lone person of color on the dais – for the lawsuit.
He accused Burke and Marquez of being close to the plaintiffs in the lawsuit and leaking the city’s legal strategy.
“We’ve been fighting this legal battle with one arm tied behind our backs,” he said.
“Both Councilwoman Marquez and Councilmember Burke are complicit in this lawsuit, they have remained close with the plaintiffs.”
Minikus, who was appointed to the city council in 2021, refused to allow Burke and Marquez a chance to rebut and respond to his comments.
Both Burke & Marquez refused to vote to adjourn the meeting, demanding an opportunity to respond to Minikus’ allegations.
“I don’t think councilmembers should get to spread hateful, vicious lies about each other and then adjourn without giving the other councilmember a chance to respond,” Burke said.
Marquez said Minikus’ remarks leaves the city liable to a lawsuit.
“You alleged many things were not true,” she said.
But the council majority adjourned the meeting anyway – with city officials turning off council microphones as Marquez and Burke were visible at the end of the meeting protesting their inability to answer the mayor’s allegations with the audio of the online broadcast eventually morphing into Bluegrass music.
Cypress Weighs in On District Elections
One by one council members sounded off Wednesday on their thoughts on district elections and how it would impact a small city like Cypress.
In by-district elections, residents can only vote for a candidate who lives in their district – having a say on who gets to sit on one of the seats on the city council.
In at-large elections, voters across the city can vote for as many candidates as there are council seats up for grabs. For example, if three seats are up for election, voters can vote for three candidates – the top three vote-getters are then elected to those seats.
Marquez, who is running for County Supervisor, said the change will allow underrepresented groups to have a fair opportunity for representation in local government and the city must comply with state law.
“District elections will bring new and more diverse voices to city hall,” she said.
Burke acknowledged that California’s voting rights act has flaws and residents have concerns but that district elections allow every part of the city to be represented and that approving the settlement will save the city millions of dollars.
He said the election system, whether by-district or at-large, would not impact a government’s effectiveness.
“If a city has intelligent, hardworking public servants who genuinely have the community’s best interests at heart, then it’s going to be a good, effective responsive government,” he said.
“And if we elect people of dubious ability and intention, then it’s not going to be an effective responsive government.”
Despite voting in favor of the settlement and the switch, Council members Bonnie Peat and Anne Mallari spoke against district elections arguing that council members will only focus on their districts and not the city as whole.
Peat said that this was the hardest decision she had to make on the council.
“This is one that’s going to change the lives of everybody in our city,” she said. “It’s also going to change people’s perception of how they think they can vote.”
Mallari said that while there is no Asian American resident on the council, some Asian Americans voted for her and other people on the council.
“I do not believe that Asian residents are disenfranchised. I do not believe that they are ignored. I do not believe they are victims who need protection in this way,” she said amid a 20 minute speech against district elections.
“I believe they are capable, and have a powerful voice and I think they’re voting how they want.”
Mallari called the California Voting Rights law poorly conceived but acknowledged that no court would rule in the city’s favor.
She also said she hopes to get a coalition of cities to push back against the voting rights act at the state level – where she plans to continue the fight.
City council members also voted Wednesday on a resolution showing their intention to make a switch to district voting and a $50,000 agreement with the National Demographics Corporation to establish electoral districts.
The transition is expected to cost the city $100,000, according to a staff report.
The decision makes Cypress the latest city in Orange County to make the switch to district election after a lawsuit or legal threat joining cities like Anaheim Garden Grove, San Juan Capistrano, Fullerton, Orange and Santa Ana.
[Read: Another OC City May Switch to District Elections After Voting Rights Lawsuit]
How Did Cypress Get Here?
In July 2022, Cypress residents Malini Nagpal and Kathryn Shapiro, along with the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project to sue the city alleging that the city’s election system violates the California Voting Rights Act and disenfranchises Asian American voters.
They say an Asian American candidate hasn’t been elected to the city council in over 10 years, despite the community making up 37% of Cypress residents.
[Read: Cypress Sued For Violating Voting Rights Act After Refusing District Elections]
“For too long the same group has influenced our leadership. The same group has exercised control and not always in an inclusive way while many citizens’ needs go unaddressed,” Shapiro said at the meeting.
Nagpal, who is Asian American, said a recent city press release about the city considering transitioning to district elections has brought her and Shapiro backlash.
“There have been physical threats of harm towards Katie and I,” she said at the meeting
Most residents, including some Asian Americans, who spoke at Wednesday’s meeting pushed back against the switch, arguing that they want to be able vote for every single seat on the city council and calling the move “identity politics” as well as calling it racist.
They called for the council to continue the fight.
“We have never felt in all our voting experiences that we were ever in any way ignored, discriminated nor disenfranchised by this city,” said resident Esther Poach.
Under the settlement agreement, Cypress will have to implement district elections by the November 2024 election and create a map with public input that cuts up the city into five election districts by Feb. 26.
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.
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