By Rene Ciria-Cruz, New America Media
Worried about the potential erosion of political leverage, leaders from San Francisco’s Filipino community have been meeting to solidify their response to the upcoming redrawing of the city’s voting districts.
At stake is the electoral strength of the community, particularly in two areas—District 11 and District 6—where most of the city’s Filipinos live. These districts are deemed overpopulated and must give up substantial numbers of residents to other electoral districts.
San Francisco has a population of 36,347 Filipinos, nearly 5 percent of the city’s 805,235 residents.
“There’s been a keen response from Filipino Americans, with more than 50 leaders attending our past two working meetings—it’s a pretty serious and committed group,” said Marily Mondejar, president of the Filipino American Women’s Network. In a show of force, community leaders have formed a coalition to advocate for this effort, comprised of about a dozen Filipino-American organizations all over the Bay Area.
S.F. Mayor Ed Lee appointed Mondejar to the nine-member Redistricting Task Force he created with the Board of Supervisors and the elections board. The task force must present a final plan outlining the new supervisorial district lines to the Board of Supervisors no later than April 15, 2012.
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