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8.A. - Page 26 of 48 <br />JotAALDEF <br />The Latino Legal Voice for Civil Rights in America. <br />National Headquarters <br />MALDEF Nonprofit Center <br />634 S. Spring Street, 12th Fl. <br />Los Angeles, CA 90014 <br />TEL: 213.629.2512 <br />Fax: 213.629.0266 <br />Atlanta <br />Program Office <br />500 West Lanier Avenue <br />Suite 908 <br />Fayetteville, GA 30215 <br />Tel: 678.559.1071 <br />Fax: 678.559.1079 <br />Chicago <br />Regional Office <br />11 East Adams Street <br />Suite 700 <br />Chicago, IL 60603 <br />TEL: 312.427.0701 <br />Fax: 312.427.0691 <br />Los Angeles <br />Regional Office <br />634 S. Spring Street, <br />11th Fl. <br />Los Angeles, CA 90014 <br />TEL: 213.629.2512 <br />Fax: 213.629.0266 <br />Sacramento <br />Program Office <br />1512 14th Street <br />Sacramento, CA 95814 <br />Tel: 916.444.3031 <br />Fax: 916.444.7207 <br />San Antonio <br />Regional Office <br />110 Broadway <br />Suite 300 <br />San Antonio, TX 78205 <br />TEL: 210.224.5476 <br />Fax: 210.224.5382 <br />Washington, D.C. <br />Regional Office <br />1016 16th Street, NW <br />Suite 100 <br />Washington, DC 20036 <br />Tel: 202.293.2828 <br />April 8, 2019 <br />VIA EMAIL <br />Ian Bain, Mayor <br />City Council, Redwood City <br />1017 Middlefield Road <br />Redwood City, CA 94063 <br />Re: Redwood City's Proposed Maps <br />Dear Mayor Bain: <br />We are pleased that the Redwood City City Council voted to establish district -based <br />elections for the 2020 City Council election. However, we have received concerns from <br />Latino voters that the City Council is considering proposed maps that dilute the Latino <br />vote by failing to create two majority Latino citizen voting age population ("LCVAP") <br />districts. <br />It is our understanding that Latino citizens of voting age in Redwood City are sufficiently <br />geographically compact to constitute the majority of eligible voters in two single -member <br />districts, as demonstrated by proposed plans 13g, 13h, 21e, and 21f. Failure to include <br />two majority LCVAP districts may expose Redwood City to liability under Section 2 of <br />the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965. For example, in 2011, the Kern County Board of <br />Supervisors failed to draw two majority LCVAP districts despite public requests to do so. <br />MALDEF sued on behalf of Latino voters, and in 2018, Kern County was ordered by a <br />federal district judge to draw a map with two majority LCVAP districts and to pay <br />MALDEF $3 million in attorneys' fees and costs. <br />We strongly urge the City Council to take the concerns of its Latino voters seriously— <br />voters who have mobilized, demonstrated, and taken efforts to create and submit plans <br />with two majority LCVAP districts—and adopt a map that contains at least two majority <br />LCVAP districts. <br />Please feel free to contact me with any questions. Thank you. <br />Sincerely, <br />ow -r pffk� <br />Tanya Pellegrini <br />Staff Attorney <br />MALDEF <br />cc: Diana Howard, Vice Mayor <br />Alicia Aguirre, Council Member <br />The Latino Legal Voice for Civil Rights in America <br />www.maldef org <br />351 <br />