Hispanics rip district split

Erin Neff

Wednesday, Sept. 1, 1999 | 11:37 a.m.

Claiming they were omitted from the process of redrawing Las Vegas voting districts, Hispanic leaders Tuesday criticized the proposed ward map because they said it splits the city's Hispanics into two different wards.

Retired Wisconsin Judge Fred Kessler presided over a two-hour forum at City Hall, defending his proposal as the best possible plan given the city's high level of integration.

In fact, he said, Hispanics would have had a better chance to become a majority in a given ward if only one new seat had been added to the council.

When voters approved the expansion of the current four-member council in June, that lowered the average number of residents each member of the six-member council will represent.

That proposal would have each council member responsible for 77,000 constituents. But since 95,000 people live east of U.S. 95, Kessler said, he had to draw the line east of the highway to get the 77,000 for both Ward 3 and 5.

As a result, the area in which the largest percentage of blacks and Hispanics live was split, giving blacks a large percentage of votes in Ward 5 and leaving the sprawling Hispanic population split between the two.

Speaking on behalf of the Southern Nevada Hispanic Leadership Committee, Liz Carrasco asked Kessler with whom he met from the Hispanic community.

"I basically went to city leaders and they set it up," he said.

At an earlier press conference, Kessler was also unable to remember the names of Hispanic leaders he talked with before crafting the map.

Since redistricting seems inevitable again after the 2000 census, Philip Ortiz told Kessler to seek more input if he's paid as a consultant again to craft district boundaries.

"When you are called back, I would encourage you, I would implore you to include us," Ortiz said.

Nobody in the Hispanic community seems to know what Hispanic input Kessler considered when splitting Wards 3 and 5.

But in an interview after the forum, Kessler said he did consider a lot of political data when drawing the lines.

"I walked into my first meeting knowing how they did in each precinct," Kessler said of the City Council members.

He also met with state Sen. Joe Neal and Assemblymen Wendell Williams and Morse Arberry for input from the black community.

Under Kessler's proposal, the new Ward 5 would get a number of downtown's casinos -- including the Plaza, Main Street Station and the El Cortez.

Gene Collins, president of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said he was pleased with Kessler's efforts, but would still seek legislation during the 2001 session to add another three seats to the board in an effort to create more opportunities for minorities to get elected.

Kessler said that if the council had five, nine or 11 seats, the chances to create a minority majority ward would improve.

Under the proposed maps, Ward 3 would be 24.3 percent Hispanic and Ward 5 would be 14.1 percent Hispanic. Ward 5, as proposed, would be 29.8 percent black -- the closest ward to having a minority majority.

None of the council members attended Tuesday's meeting. Mayor Oscar Goodman attended the first 20 minutes of the session, which was run by Kessler.

The purpose of the forum was to gain citizen input into the process.

Orlando Rios, speaking for Hispanics In Politics, told Kessler that his splitting the minority population into two wards could lower the standard percentages considered in future redistricting efforts.

Kessler said he drew about 25 different proposals before settling on the one discussed Tuesday. But when Rios asked for the model that gave Hispanics a greater percentage in a ward, Kessler said he erased it from his computer.

But residents of the proposed Ward 6 in the city's northernmost area told Kessler they thought his plan was fine. Several applauded his efforts and begged him not change a thing.

Kessler will make a final recommendation to the City Council after considering the input from Tuesday's meeting. The council will then introduce the proposal and hold a public hearing on it before voting on it.

After the map is finalized, the council will vote to appoint representatives to the new Wards 5 and 6. Several residents who want those seats attended Tuesday's forum, but none spoke.

The appointments must be made by Jan. 1.