Pasadena to pay $1.1M in Latino voting rights case
PASADENA, Texas — Leaders of a Houston-area city unanimously approved paying $1.1 million to settle a lawsuit alleging a voting plan adopted in 2013 diluted Latino power at the polls.
The Pasadena City Council on Tuesday approved the settlement with some Latino residents represented by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund. Pasadena will pay the group’s legal fees and drop appeals in the settlement recommended by Mayor Jeff Wagner, the Houston Chronicle reported.
Wagner was elected in June, after U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal ruled in January that Pasadena intentionally violated the voting rights of its growing Hispanic and Latino population in redistricting. Then-Mayor Johnny Isbell backed a voter-approved plan that replaced eight single-member City Council districts with six single-member and two at-large districts. Rosenthal ordered Pasadena to return to eight single-member districts and be under federal oversight through June 2023.
“We are very pleased to reach a resolution of the case that will allow Pasadena to move forward with a fair election system,” said Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund attorney Nina Perales. “And, we appreciate the efforts of Mayor Wagner to bring about the settlement.”
Read more: https://www.abqjournal.com/1073326/houston-area-city-to-pay-1-1m-in-latino-voting-rights-case.html