Laguna Hills, one of the few remaining Orange County cities that still elects council members at-large, is expected to transition to a district-based voting system after legal threats regarding voting rights.
It’s been a trend over the past few years in Orange County as cities make the change to how they elect city council members in response to legal challenges that at-large voting violates the California Voting Rights Act and results in “racially polarized voting.”
At-large voting gives voters the opportunity to elect every open city council seat. For example, if there are three open city council seats during an election, every registered voter gets to cast their vote for all three open seats.
District voting creates election districts in cities and restricts voters to only elect the city council member who is running in their specific district. If there were three open city council seats, voters would only be able to cast their ballot for one candidate who lives in the district based on their home address.
Many Orange County cities that use district-based elections still elect the mayor at-large.
Now, Laguna Hills’ voting system is expected to change after city council members voted 3-1 to move toward creating election districts during their meeting on Sept. 23.
Councilmember Dave Wheeler voted no and Councilmember Erica Pezold recused herself from the discussion because she’s friends with the lawyer who represented the voting rights challenge.
Council members were not happy about the change despite voting to approve.
“I don’t respond well to threats or being under the threat of litigation. It’s not the way to have to make decisions,” Councilmember Jared Mathis said at the meeting.
He also said he doesn’t think districts are appropriate in cities with fewer than 50,000 residents — about 30,000 live in Laguna Hills.
But he ended up voting yes to protect the city’s money from potentially costly lawsuits if they were to fight the change.
“The odds of winning are next to zero,” Mathis said. “You’d literally have a better chance of taking the city’s money and going to Vegas and putting it on the blackjack table. I’m not willing to gamble the city’s money that way.”
The legal challenges began in June 2023 when attorney Michelle Jackson sent a letter to Laguna Hills staff requesting that the city change its election systems to avoid legal action. She also sent letters to San Clemente, Laguna Niguel and Rancho Santa Margarita — all three of those cities have already transitioned to utilizing district elections.
[Read: South OC Continues Refusing To Pay Lawyers Fees for District Elections]
Jackson sent a follow-up letter on Aug. 25 reiterating her urges for Laguna Hills to alter its election system. She’s representing a group known as Voter Equality Association in addition to a Laguna Hills resident named Arthur Sanchez, according to Jackson’s letter.
Her letter states that the at-large voting method dilutes the ability of Latino residents to elect councilmembers of their choice.
“Given the historical lack of representation of Latinos on the Laguna Hills City Council or in positions of leadership within the City, we urge the City to voluntarily change its at-large system of electing governing board members,” reads the August letter. “Otherwise, on behalf of residents within the Laguna Hills jurisdiction, we will be forced to seek judicial relief.”
No Orange County city has successfully fended off voting rights challenges in court.
Jackson has been working alongside Sanchez in this process.
Sanchez said he wants to make sure all communities in Orange County cities are represented so they can get city-sponsored programs to improve their quality of life.
“Most of the parents, they work two jobs, but the kids are old enough where they can go to an event, go to some type of outdoor activity, have a great time, meet their other friends, become part of the community, and then go home and help raise their brothers or sisters,” Sanchez said in an interview. “We just need more community activity.”
“Laguna Hills has a great community center,” Sanchez continued. “I mean, it’s fantastic, but nothing has ever been done to, shall we say, help with some of the minorities in Laguna Hills.”
Laguna Hills Councilmember Dave Wheeler voted against the change, calling it a “figment of Ms. Jackson’s imagination.”
“This assertion that we are not fair in our elections is a total lie,” he said. “It’s fabrication. It does not exist.”
The council specifically voted to adopt a resolution declaring its intent to transition to district elections and also approved a proposed consulting services agreement with demographer NDC.
Councilmember Don Caskey said he didn’t see the change as a threat but voted yes to protect the city’s taxpayer dollars in case of a lawsuit.
“I, too, would not want to risk the dollars and cents that would be involved to fight this at this point in time,” Caskey said at the meeting. “I actually don’t think that whether we’re in districts or not, it’s going to suddenly make the stability and continuity of leadership in this community change anytime soon.”
Mayor Joshua Sweeney also emphasized frustration with state mandates forcing local leaders to make certain decisions.
“I do not agree with Sacramento’s one-size-fits-all mandates that push cities into these district elections,” Sweeney said. “Laguna Hills has elected at large since 1991 to serve the whole city, and that model has worked for accountability the whole time, and tonight, we’re confronting a legal framework from the state, the California Voting Rights Act, and that puts cities into a litigation chokehold. I believe it’s just another example of Sacramento eroding all of our local control.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified Art Sanchez as former Buena Park Councilmember Art Brown. Brown is not involved in the redistricting efforts in Laguna Hills. We regret the error.
Angelina Hicks is the Voice of OC Collegiate News Service Editor. Contact her at ahicks@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @angelinahicks13.