UPDATE: Judge favors Pasco plan to better represent Latino voters

All seven Pasco council seats will be up for grabs this year after a federal judge ruled Friday that the city can move forward with a new way of electing council members.

The order by Senior Judge Lonny R. Suko comes out of a lawsuit that claims Latino candidates in Pasco aren’t given an equal opportunity because of the current council district system.

The city, in response to the civil action, proposed a plan to form six districts and one at-large seat. Three of the six will be Latino majority districts.

Suko said the “remedial plan” offered by Pasco is legally acceptable.

Pasco left it to Suko to decide how quickly it should go into effect.

“Prompt implementation is required for an effective remedy …,” Suko wrote in his 55-page opinion. “This option assures citizens will have their voices heard now.”

The city currently has five council districts and two at-large seats.

Pasco and its council members were sued last summer in U.S. District Court by longtime resident Bertha Aranda Glatt. She failed in her challenge of Mayor Matt Watkins for his at-large seat in 2015.

“The ability for the Latino community to elect three candidates to the city council is an absolute win for the city of Pasco and all of its residents,” Glatt said Friday in a news release from the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington. “This change will ensure that all voices are heard in city council decisions and that all communities’ interests are respected and considered.”

The ACLU of Washington, which is representing Glatt, had said that Pasco’s election system violates Section 2 of the federal Voting Rights Act by diluting Latino votes.

ACLU lawyers proposed seven single-member geographic residency districts with no at-large seats. They argued Dec. 7 that while Pasco’s proposal is a step in the right direction, it’s still not enough because it is a hybrid system in which Latino votes will continue to be diluted.

Suko denied the ACLU’s plan

The judge noted the city’s history of never electing a Latino person in a contested race for the Pasco City Council.

At least one Latino has run for a position almost every election since 1990, the ACLU has said.

The council’s two current Latinos — Saul Martinez and Chi Flores — were appointed to their seats. Martinez has since run unopposed in two elections, while Flores has been in his position for just three months.

Suko then said he also must consider “proportionality, the absence of discriminatory voting practices and intent, viable policies underlying the 6-1 plan, the participation of Latinos in elections, crossover voting, demographics in a state of flux, and officials’ responsiveness.”

In all, it justifies keeping a single at-large seat, he said.

“Under Pasco’s remedial plan, Latinos possess an equal opportunity to elect representatives and to participate in the political process, which was previously denied to them under the all at-large election scheme,” the opinion said. “The city’s plan complies with the ‘full and complete’ remedy standard and does not violate the Constitution or Voting Rights Act anew.”

The Pasco City Council, in response to the federal lawsuit, adopted the 6-1 option in September and the boundary plan in October. However, the plan could not be enacted until it got the judge’s approval and another election is held using the new format.

City officials acknowledged the likely violation in their electoral process, but were prohibited under state law from making changes.

“The city is pleased with Judge Suko’s thoughtful deliberation and recognition of the efforts of the city to avoid racially-polarized voting, and to be in compliance with the Voting Rights Act,” Watkins said in a written statement from the city.

“With this plan now approved, the city can move ahead implementing an election that most fairly represents everybody,” he added. “These significant changes represent a positive steady effort and considerable time by the city council with public input.”

The six seats will be voted on by district in both the primary and general elections. The at-large member can live anywhere within city limits and will be picked by registered voters citywide.

After all seven seats go up for election this year, Positions 2 and 5 and at-large Position 7 will be open again in two years to maintain the city’s staggered election plan, Suko said.

The three positions will then go on a four-year cycle. Positions 1, 3, 4 and 6 won’t be up for election again until 2021.

Based on the new six-district map, no incumbent lives in what will be District 1, which is in central Pasco running along the southern border of Interstate 182.

Watkins, who currently has one of two at-large seats, and Flores live in what will be District 4.

Councilman Tom Larsen — the second current at-large seat holder — and Mayor Pro Tem Rebecca Francik live in District 5.

That leaves Al Yenney in District 2, Martinez in District 3 and Bob Hoffmann in District 6.

The Hispanic majority districts are 1, 2 and 6.

Leo Perales, spokesman for the Latino Coalition Tri-Cities, said they are pleased with Suko’s decision and the fact that Pasco will have a different system in place with the next election.

Even though the Latino Coalition had favored the 7-0 plan, Perales said they won’t dwell on the shortcomings of the approved option “because we can only see optimism for the Latino community in the elections to come.”

“No longer will a Latino/Latina candidate have a fleeting feeling of hope when they declare their candidacy but a feeling of equality,” he added. “A true representative and responsive government demands diversity, and a severe lack of diversity is unhealthy for any democracy.”

The group plans to work to register new voters and educate them on the importance of their vote in local government and for future generations of Pasco residents.

This story was originally published January 27, 2017 at 2:03 PM with the headline "UPDATE: Judge favors Pasco plan to better represent Latino voters."