Thy Vo/Voice of OC
Garden Grove will transition to a new system of electing city council members by district, a result of a settlement reached in September between the city and a Latino resident, Rickk Montoya, who sued the city. The lawsuit alleged the city’s at-large election system disenfranchised Latino voters and violates the California Voting Rights Act.
Garden Grove mayor Bao Nguyen may find his role changed once the new system of election comes into play. (Photo by Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
In the new system, council members will be elected from five electoral districts, but the mayor will no longer be directly elected, and instead be appointed by fellow council members.
Although the mayor has no special powers and the post is largely ceremonial, the change matters in Garden Grove, where mayors have long used the power and influence of the pulpit to steer the direction of the City Council.
At Tuesday’s meeting, the City Council also voted to hire Compass Demographics to start the process of drawing district maps, one of the stipulations of the settlement to the lawsuit.
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http://voiceofoc.org/2015/10/some-in-garden-grove-worry-about-mayors-role-in-new-electoral-systemMayor
