Hispanics near agreement on redistricting

Monday, April 30, 2001 | 11:11 a.m.

The state's Hispanics drew closer this weekend to reaching a consensus on redistricting the Legislature.

In a Saturday morning meeting notable for its bipartisanship, two dozen community and political leaders from Northern and Southern Nevada agreed that this time around Hispanics need to be represented in the Legislature.

"I've been a political activist in my community for years, and all the times I've gone up to Carson City to testify on any issue I've never seen any brown faces," nurse Ellie Lopez-Bowlan said. "I think it's time for that to change."

District lines are redrawn once a decade so that lawmakers in Carson City reflect shifting population patterns and represent close to the same number of voters in each district.

At some point in the next two weeks, both the 21-member Senate and the 42-member Assembly will present maps reflecting population changes in Las Vegas and the rest of the state during the last decade. These maps will be made available for public comment.

The meeting was called to "get a head start on these maps and have our own position clear as a community that now represents 22 percent of Clark County's population," said Tony Sanchez, of the Latin Chamber of Commerce.

After hours of occasionally heated but focused discussion, including a look at maps drawn to show that Hispanic majority districts could be created in Clark County, consensus was reached on two points.

"First, we are looking to create at least five new assembly districts, as many without incumbents as possible, and second, we want two single seat senate districts," said Fran Montes, president of Hispanics in Politics.

Hispanics In Politics, which was formed in 1982 and is the oldest Hispanic political organization in Las Vegas, called for the meeting, along with Amigos for Democracy and the Latin Chamber of Commerce.

One of the key issues facing the meeting was the north-south dispute on whether to keep the Legislature at 63 members or enlarge it to 69. The new seats would likely come to the south, which Las Vegas political leaders think could dilute their power.

However, the point proved to be a stickler for those in the meeting. "The whole issue of creating new Legislature seats is something we cannot agree on for now," said Sanchez afterwards. "So we're not making any statements on that, and sticking to the issue of redistricting."

The meeting had a range of political voices, from Earlene Forsythe, vice chair of the Nevada Republican party, to members of the Nevada Hispanic Democratic Caucus, including Chairman Andres Ramirez, who presented a map showing how three Hispanic majority and one near-majority district could be created in Las Vegas.

"We have to remember that we're Hispanic first, before Democrats or Republicans," meeting moderator Al Martinez said.

"This was as diverse and unified a group as I've ever seen," Sanchez noted.