Statement on at-large vs. district elections and expanding the size of Irvine City Council

UPDATE (05/13/2021): For the most recent developments on this topic, click here.

At last night’s City Council Meeting, Councilmember Larry Agran announced his position on election reform in Irvine. He urged the Council to move forward with a discussion of districting and expanding the size of the City Council from 5 to 7 members. A transcript of his remarks follows below.

Statement on At-Large vs. District Elections and Expanding the Size of Irvine City Council

“As many people already know, our City recently received a letter from attorney Kevin Schenkman, representing the Southwest Voter Project. In his letter, Mr. Schenkman argues that our City’s at-large voting system — that’s the system where our Mayor and 4 City Councilmembers all run for office Citywide — is in violation of the California Voting Rights Act. Mr. Shenkman argues that our at-large voting system discriminates against candidates from racial and ethnic minorities.

As a legal matter, I actually agree with our City Attorney that Mr. Shenkman could ultimately lose any case [he brought] against Irvine in a court of law. If we are sued — and note that we have not yet been sued — I think we could defend our at-large voting system against the charge that we are in violation of the California Voting Rights Act.

But should we? Should we get embroiled in costly litigation to defend our 50-year-old at-large voting system? I don’t think so. I think it’s time for Irvine, on our own initiative, to consider doing what other cities in Orange County and throughout California have been doing for years; it’s time to consider enlarging our City Council and moving to district elections.

After decades of annexations and population growth, we’re now a City of nearly 70 square miles with about 300,000 people. This marks a good time to transition from the current 5-member City Council — a Mayor and 4 City Councilmembers all elected at-large — to a 7-member City Council with the Mayor still elected at-large, but with 6 City Councilmembers who would be elected from 6 separate geographic districts, each with about 50,000 people.

I believe we should begin the process of transitioning to district elections not because we are forced to by litigation, but because we want to … because we have determined as a community that district elections would provide for a significant improvement in our local representative democracy.

Whether you agree with my view or not, I hope we can all agree that it is now time for our City to at least consider this change. That’s why I will be asking that this matter be put on a future City Council meeting agenda for Council and community discussion.”