Arcadia Politics Becomes Ever More Confusing

Arcadia is often seen as a serene, quite city with some beautifulhomes, an award-winning school district, a world class horse racing track aswell as the ever-popular Los  AngelesCounty Arboretum.

However, few see — especially now duringthe pandemic —the political calculationsthat happen in the city.

Arcadia residents tell us they are concerned that the redistrictingrules have changed the city’s voting requirements so much that it is hard tovote for someone you are not familiar with. Therefore, some voters told ArcadiaWeekly they simply don’t vote anymore.

The recent council meeting was, indeed, contentious, as one of mycolleagues wrote last week.

And it appears there’s a push to change the political environment backto at-large voting.

The redistricting of Arcadia has seen more of a division on council inrecent years and the votes so often are 3-2. A few years ago the voters inArcadia found themselves with unacceptable and often impracticableredistricting which subsequently left out thousands of potential votes.

Arcadia was told to change its electoral process. The HQH ChineseAmerican Equalization Association (HQH CAEA) alleged the city was in violationof the California Voting Rights Act and had to convert from at-large voting toa by-district system to allow more Asian American representation on thecouncil. “My client is doing this in the best interest of the city … to makesure that everyone in the city has a say,” the group’s attorney RichardMcDonald said in November 2016.

When voters cast a ballot, they expect their votes to matter inchoosing representatives who are responsive, reflective, and accountable to thecommunities they represent. Election districts for federal, state, and localoffices should be drawn to advance those ends.