On Tuesday, the Arlington City Council voted 9-0 to give initial approval to a new map of voting districts, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.
The council says that the new map best meets the legal requirements for drawing voting districts, even though the NAACP and League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) strongly opposed it. The proposed redistricting will appear before the council for second and final approval at the next meeting.
Rezzin Pullum of the Bojorquez Law Firm in Austin said legal reviews showed the map approved on Tuesday was the best option. The Bojorquez Law Firm in Austin is a municipal law firm hired by Arlington to consult on the drawing of voting districts.
Pullum said that many decisions sought to preserve the voices of minority communities in Arlington during the process.
LULAC President Luis Castillo was met with some backlash after his comments at the meeting. Castillo referred to Deputy Manager Lemuel Randolph, a Black man, as a “token” person of color in city management because the other two deputy city managers are white.
Councilmember Andrew Piel pushed back, arguing that the comment devalued Randolph’s qualifications and work that contributed to his position within the city.
Councilmember Raul Gonzalez stated that Castillo’s claim that he and other council members of color were “enabling white supremacy” was false and asserted that council members had worked to find diverse representation for LULAC to no avail.
The NAACP and LULAC created their own map of voting districts, referenced as a “citizens map” by the council. Pullum stated the voting map provided by the NAACP and LULAC couldn’t be implemented because it possessed numerous legal problems. The problems included:
- Removing council members from their districts.
- Separating communities that could be kept together otherwise.
- Having the reverse effect of limiting the voice of minority voters.
The meeting concluded without a date for the final approval of the voting map.