Former Mayor Steve Tate part of lawsuit alleging map is illegal
By Marty Cheek
Several prominent Morgan Hill residents including former Mayor Steve Tate are suing the city over a redistricting map they contend is illegal.
“We are challenging the council’s adoption of Map 103 on the grounds that it violates state law, specifically the Fair Maps Act, which is spelled out in the Elections Code,” said Christopher E. Skinnell, an attorney at San Rafael-based law firm Nielsen Merksamer.
The plaintiffs claim Map 103 does not comply with the law because District D, the easternmost portion of the city, is geographically segregated into two sections separated by unincorporated county land.
Former Mayor Steve Tate
“The city council knew that. They were told by their city attorney (Don Larkin) and the consultants, by lots of the public, by us, that it didn’t comply with the Fair Maps Act,” Skinnell said in an interview. “They went ahead and voted for it anyway. So, at this point, our only option left is to ask a court to intervene.”
The suit was filed April 11 with the Santa Clara County State Superior Court and a hearing is scheduled for May 9. Tate’s group is not requesting monetary damages. Court fees will most likely be paid by the losing party, Skinnell said.
At the heart of the suit is the question of if a city council can disregard the condition of contiguity in favor of “communities of interest” when selecting a redistricting map. Redistricting consultants and Larkin explained to council members contiguity was the primary requirement of state redistricting law.
Mayor Rich Constantine and councilmembers Rene Spring (District C) and Yvonne Martínez Beltrán (District B) voted in the majority for Map 103 at the March 2 meeting. Councilmembers John McKay (District D) and Gino Borgioli (District A) favored the map designated as “NDC Green Map.”
Mayor Rich Constantine
City council members received a letter dated March 23 from Skinnell demanding they reconsider the adoption of Map 103. At the April 6 meeting, Mayor Constantine brought up a proposal to have a “validation action” presented to the court where a judge would determine in a non-adversarial way the legality of Map 103. If the court decides it did not comply with state law, the judge would choose another map. The council voted 3-2 in favor of this proposal. The lawsuit, however, nullifies this action from being pursued, said City Attorney Don Larkin.
Larkin has only seen validation used in cases where there’s a financial transaction. “That’s not to say it’s not available, but there’s no statute that exactly allows it,” he said. “It’s absolutely certain it would set precedent if a court allowed it to be used for redistricting.”
At the March 2 meeting, Constantine explained his vote as an attempt to avoid a lawsuit from Armando Benavides. The local attorney threatened to sue the city if the council failed to vote for Map 103 on the basis that, according to Benavides, the other maps did not fairly represent the Latino community of interest.
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Skinnell doubts a lawsuit threat from Benavides would hold validity with a judge.
“The claims that he is making that I’ve seen in his correspondence are extremely, extremely weak,” he said. “I don’t see them prevailing in court. Nothing prevents him from filing a case, but I don’t think he has a good chance of winning.”
Mayor Constantine said the city of Morgan Hill “was going to sue itself anyway” with the validation action, so the lawsuit will provide the same opportunity for the court to select a new district map for the city.
“I want the court to decide on what bears more precedence, whether it be congruity or communities of interest,” he said.
Map 103 follows the current districts map with minor variations between a few city blocks. The current map was selected in 2017, but the Fair Maps Act changed two years later to require districts be drawn with contiguity “to the extent practicable.”
Map 103 and the NDC Green map compare in Latino demographics. District B on Map 103 has the third highest number of Latino residents and the second highest number of potential Latino voters, exactly the same as the NDC Green map.
The city is required to submit a final map to the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters office by April 17.
Skinnell believes a judge will decide against upholding Map 103 because, based on his experience with other cases, it does not follow the legal requirements of the Fair Maps Act.
“This map is clearly illegal,” he said. “We had hoped and even now still hope, although I’m not holding my breath, that they will comply with the law. If not, we’ll move forward with our action.”
