The boundaries of the five districts in San Diego County represented by supervisors are being redrawn, and one community-based organization is calling for better representation of Latinx people in the North County.
“Universidad Popular” pointed out that Latinx people in the North County are underrepresented, given they make up about 30% of the county’s population.
The county’s independent redistricting commission is in the process of drawing new district lines, following the results of the 2020 census.
Lilian Serrano is co-director of Universidad Popular. She said the group’s main focus is getting Escondido moved from District 3, made up mainly of coastal communities, into district 5 where most north county inland communities are now.
“Escondido is excluded from that. It has been like that for 20 years and we have seen some real impacts of that carve out in our communities as Latinxs that live in North County," she said.
Serrano said it just makes sense to keep the communities of North County, especially inland communities, together.
“What we are asking is really for them to keep us under one district. We want to have Escondido, San Marcos, Vista, Oceanside, Fallbrook, Pauma Valley, Valley Center all under one district that will really allow us to come together as a Latinx community," said Serrano.
Supervisor Nora Vargas became the first Latinx person to be elected supervisor in 2020. The board was formed in 1850.
A decision from the commission will be announced on December 15th.
