The federal lawsuit from the United Latin American Citizens contends that Latinos in Houston are under-represented in city government.
There are 16 city council seats in Houston and five members are elected at large.
Houston chapter president Dr. Sergio Lira says "We are 47 percent of the population based on the 2020 census and I would think it's closer to 50 percent because of the undercount. However it's nearly half and we only have one Latino city councilman, which is just a gross example of misrepresentation."
Houston is the fourth largest city in the nation. The three bigger, New York City, Los Angles and Chicago all have single-member districts.
"Chicago has 50 single-member districts and so does New York. Their offices are not at city hall, they're in the community so they're more responsive to the needs of their individual districts. When you have equitable representation, you have pathways to resources that are faster and more in line with the needs of the community and you'll impact families in your neighborhood more directly."
He says Houston had a completely at-large system until 1970. After that, "only one female Latino and one Male Latino have been elected to at-large seats."
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