UPDATE: King City council votes to move to district elections

UPDATE 2/14/16: The King City Council has voted to move from at-large elections to district elections in 2016.

The vote was 4-0 with one person choosing not to vote.

A day after the vote, the California State League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), and the Tri-County Association of Latino Elected Officials (TCALEO) commended the move.

“For the past couple of years, the people of have been rocked by the injustices caused by the King City Police Department and been demanding fairer and more equitable political representation in their local government. California State LULAC, together with our local LULAC Councils on the , have been proud to stand united with the citizens and residents of urging this City Council to give them a greater voice with district elections,” LULAC Deputy Director Carlos Ramos said.

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King City council members on Tuesday will look at moving from at-large elections to district elections.

Supporters of the move said the city council currentlydoesn’t represent the demographics of the city.

“We’re not looking at more Latinos in council. I think that we just want fair representation, have a representative from every section of the city,” said resident Carlos Victoria.

Currently, five council members represent the entire city. Under district elections, the city would be divided into districts and voters would select candidates onlyfrom their district.

City leaders got to hear from voters at a public workshop Monday.

“It’s a really important issue and we want to make sure that everybody is informed as far as what’s being considered before the council makes a decision,” said city manager Steven Adams.

The discussion has been going on for more than ayear after the King City Police Department came under fire for a corruption scandal allegedly targeting Latinos.

“The King City Police Department’s scandal was the reason why we wrote a petition to change from at large to district elections,” said Victoria.

But not everyone agrees. Some people feel the city is too small to break into districts with a population of 13,000 and just 2,700 registered voters.

“There are some real important pros and cons both ways so it’s a tough issue. But I think we can make it work either way,” said Adams.

The workshop was the second and last public workshop before the council makes a decision at its regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday.

“I just hope that council members make a wise decision tomorrow and in the long run it’s going to be beneficial for the entire community,” said Victoria.

If King City makes the switch, it will be the second-smallest city in the state to have district-based elections.