220406 1622 Fwd_ Frances Marquez -- Orange County Register_ _As Cypress weighs district voting, anger erupts at city councilwoman_From:Frances Marquez
To:Alisha Farnell; Fred Galante; Peter Grant
Subject:Fwd: Frances Marquez -- Orange County Register: "As Cypress weighs district voting, anger erupts at city
councilwoman"
Date:Wednesday, April 6, 2022 4:22:25 PM
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Mark Pulido <markpulido@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, Feb 7, 2022 at 9:18 PM
Subject: Re: Frances Marquez -- Orange County Register: "As Cypress weighs district voting,
anger erupts at city councilwoman"
To: Frances Marquez <marquezfrances13@gmail.com>
https://www.ocregister.com/2022/02/07/as-cypress-weighs-district-voting-anger-
erupts-at-city-councilwoman/
LOCAL NEWSAs Cypress weighs district voting,
anger erupts at city councilwoman
Cypress city councilwoman, Frances Marquez, who was elected in 2020 stands in
front of the home her parents bought in the 1970’s and have lived there since.
Cypress on Sunday, February 6, 2022. (Sam Gangwer, Contributing Photographer)
By SUSAN CHRISTIAN GOULDING | sgoulding@scng.com | Orange County Register
PUBLISHED: February 7, 2022 at 4:57 p.m. | UPDATED: February 7, 2022 at 5:34
p.m.
Depending on where and how you look at it, Cypress is either a quiet bedroom
community or a bustling center of commerce.
The north Orange County city is home to 50,000 residents, with a comfortable
median household income of about $93,000.
While small in size at 6.6 square miles, Cypress boasts a healthy tax base and a
host of employers – including UnitedHealth Group, Yamaha Motor, Costco,
Home Depot, Los Alamitos Race Course, Cypress College, Forest Lawn
Memorial Park, several hotels and, as of November, a 23-acre Amazon last-mile
facility.
Still, heated disputes bubble beneath the surface. And sometimes they erupt.
In meetings, city officials openly bristle at newcomer Frances Marquez – who,
they say, introduces agenda items that are needlessly contentious, such as
flying the LGBTQ Pride flag.
Three weeks ago, in an awkward outburst, Councilman Jon Peat angrily yelled
at her about a subcommittee committee from which she was excluded.
“I am tired of being scolded by you in public,” he said. “What gives you the right
to sit here and criticize all of us?”
At the podium, residents address the negative tenor of council meetings – noting
the “bad optics” of the four-member majority chiding the lone woman of color.
“I am appalled and shocked by how our City Council members treat one of their
colleagues,” said resident Brittney Cook, an insurance agent. “If I behaved like
that in the corporate world, I’d be fired.”
Residents complain that, with all the council members except Marquez living
close together, other neighborhoods are overlooked. They grouse about the
huge Amazon distribution center inserted on Katella Avenue near their homes,
and a pay-to-use sports park now under construction in another part of town.
Some denizens slam a no-bid extension of a trash collection contract,
maintaining it was swayed by conflicts of interest on the council.
And now, adding stress upon stress, the city must decide whether to carve out
council districts – with the alternative of a potentially expensive lawsuit.
Threat of litigation
Like a dozen Orange County cities before it, Cypress last September received a
letter alleging that its election system dilutes minority voices.
Currently, all Cypress voters decide on all five council seats. With districts,
voters choose only one council member who lives within their area.
The by-district method, intended to better serve groups with common interests,
is generally favored by the California Voters Rights Act of 2001 (CVRA).
Cypress’ threat of a lawsuit came from prolific Malibu attorney Kevin Shenkman,
who specializes in going after cities and school districts that still hold at-large
elections.
Fighting CVRA violation claims in court has proved costly and fruitless for those
that try. Seven years ago, Anaheim spent $1.1 million before relenting to by-
district elections. In 2015, Palmdale backed down after forking over $4.7 million.
Santa Monica has spent more than $8 million on still-active litigation.
Therefore, most cities – including Fullerton, Garden Grove, Santa Ana, Tustin,
Westminster and Los Alamitos – grudgingly agree to transition to precincts
rather than risk a burdensome legal battle.
Shenkman’s missive, written on behalf of a Latino civil rights group, offers a
laundry list of Cypress’ purported vulnerabilities.
Although Asians comprise 35% of the city’s population – the same percentage
as white residents – the “complete lack of Asian representation” on the council
“is revealing,” the letter states.
Shenkman points to an Asian American candidate, Carrie Hayashida, who came
in third for two City Council seats in the 2020 election. Six months later, after a
councilwoman resigned, Hayashida and five other female applicants were
passed over for Scott Minikus, one of two men who applied.
Dragging its feet?
After receiving Shenkman’s notification, the council met eight times in closed
session to discuss next steps before calling a special meeting – announced on
Christmas Eve and held Dec. 27.
But instead of approving the creation of sample precinct maps, the council voted
to hire a consultant for $40,000 to solicit public input about whether even to
proceed.
Questioning the $200-per-hour price tag, Marquez, a college professor, was the
one “no” vote. “We have a fiduciary responsibility to spend the money of
taxpayers in Cypress responsibly,” she said.
Cypress city councilwoman, Frances Marquez, who was elected in 2020 finds
herself at odds with the other council members over the city’s garbage collection
contract. Sunday, February 6, 2022. (Sam Gangwer, Contributing Photographer)
Some wonder if the city is procrastinating the inevitable.
“We’ve made it very clear to them that districts need to be in place in time for the
November elections,” Shenkman said. “They are running out of time.”
Shenkman speculated that the council’s desire to hold opinion-seeking forums
“could be an effort to orchestrate an AstroTurf uprising against districts.”
“When they waste millions of taxpayer dollars fighting a lawsuit they can say,
‘Our constituents wanted us to,’” Shenkman said.
However, city watchdog George Pardon, a retired Cal State University
administrator, does not foresee a lawsuit.
“They’re just kicking districts down the road to get past the November election,”
Pardon said. “They have people in mind who they want to see elected, which
might not happen in districts.”
George Pardon of Citizens for Responsible Development of Cypress, outside of
the Cypress city council chamber on Thursday, February 3, 2022. Pardon is the
city watchdog and city council critic who supports by-district representation.
(Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
But, Mayor Paulo Morales asserted, “We are absolutely not using the workshops
to drag our feet.”
“The majority of people don’t understand what districts are for and need to learn
more about them,” Morales said.
“I hear, ‘I’d only have 20% of the vote!’” Morales added. “I say, wait a minute, is
that the end of the world? That’s the way we do it with Congress.”
District elections can result in pitting allies against one another, depending on
where they live.
Three seats will be open this year. Peat and Morales term out, and Minikus will
be up for election after serving 15 months as an appointee.
Asian American representation
One person planning to be on the upcoming ballot is Hayashida, the candidate
who recently placed third.
“I’m saddened that the council missed an opportunity to check off several boxes
last summer in its appointment: a strong candidate in the last election; the first
Asian American councilwoman; and someone who represents a neighborhood
currently not well represented,” said Hayashida, who works as a career coach.
“But I didn’t run because I’m Asian. I wanted to represent all of Cypress, and I
still feel that way.”
Melina Nagpal, a psychologist, also threw her name in the hat to fill the opening.
“I didn’t have a chance in hell,” she said, now laughing over her unsuccessful
interview.
“One of the job requirements was that you had to be a ‘team player,’” Nagpal
said. “They didn’t want different viewpoints. It’s a tight-knit group with a lot of
overlap.”
Morales and Minikus are both retired police officers. Peat is chairman of the
Boys & Girls Club of Greater Anaheim-Cypress, where Mayor Pro Tem Anne
Hertz-Mallari serves as president.
Whatever happens next, it appears that City Council meetings will, at least in the
near future, remain acrimonious.
At the Jan. 24 meeting, Peat requested that the Council consider a motion of
censure against Marquez for disclosing to the public closed session discussions.
In a brief telephone conversation, Peat declined to provide specifics, saying only,
“We need to keep our business among ourselves.”
MARK PULIDO | markpulido@yahoo.com | (562) 833-4706
On Monday, February 7, 2022, 09:12:36 PM PST, Frances Marquez <marquezfrances13@gmail.com>
wrote:
As Cypress weighs district voting, anger erupts at city councilwoman
As Cypress weighs district voting, anger erupts at
city councilwoman
Acrimonious council meetings and a perceived lack of representationfor some neighborhoods draw criticism from t...