GOP says plan for districts meets needs of Hispanics

Thursday, May 24, 2001 | 10:17 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Republicans say they can easily fashion Senate and Assembly districts for the Legislature that comply with the wishes of the Hispanic community in Las Vegas.

Sen. Ann O'Connell, R-Las Vegas, said the GOP plan can, with minor modifications, be altered to include one Senate District and two Assembly Districts, each with a 60 percent Hispanic population.

Her comments came Wednesday after a two-hour hearing of the Senate Government Affairs Committee, of which O'Connell is chairman.

Mike Slanker, a consultant to the GOP reapportionment team, said it would be "very simple" to meet the goals of the Hispanic Coalition. And the one Senate and two Assembly seats would probably not include incumbents.

Andres Ramirez of the coalition said he wanted to see the lines before endorsing the GOP plan. He said the current Republican plan was a "step in the right direction."

Ramirez also complained that the reapportionment maps drawn by the Republican Senate were not available until Tuesday. There was no time to study this, he said. "We feel a large part of our community is being excluded," he told O'Connell. "This is not a partisan attack. This body waited too long" to release its plan.

The GOP plan expands the Senate from 21 to 23 members, the Assembly from 42 to 46.

The Senate would include 13 districts with a Republican majority of voters, 10 with a Democrat edge. In the Assembly, 26 districts would favor Republicans, 20 Democrats.

The plan by Assembly Democrats maintains the present size of the Legislature. There would be 13 Democratic Senate seats in which the party controls the district, eight for Republicans. Democrats, under their plan, would have a 26-16 edge in the Assembly.

Democrats have one Senate seat with a 65 percent Hispanic population, and there would be no incumbent. The Democrats have two Assembly seats with a 60 percent Hispanic population, although both are held by incumbents -- Dough Bache and Vonne Chowning.

Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, said Hispanics want a 60 percent majority in their districts because of a lower number of registered voters, low voter turnout and because much of the population is younger than 18.

Ramirez agreed the Hispanic Coalition wants 60 percent "to have a chance" to win the election.

While Ramirez and Luis Valera of the Coalition pressed for the 60 percent majority, other Hispanics supported the GOP plan.

It calls for two Senate districts with more than 50 percent of the population being Hispanic. And there would be five Assembly districts in which a majority of the population would be Hispanic. Two of those seats would not have incumbents.

Leah Roberts, a Hispanic, said the GOP plan was "very fair for the Hispanic community." And Marlene Monteolivo, who identified herself as aligned with Amigos for Democracy, said Hispanics would have limited influence under the Democratic plan.

Ramirez said Monteolivo spoke for herself and not for the Amigos group, which supports the position of the Coalition.

O'Connell said the Legislature would not meet its self-imposed deadline of May 25 to have an approved reapportionment plan. She said a special session would not be held to consider the issue.

There will be more negotiating sessions in an effort to reach an agreement, she said.