Whittier Election Reform Measures — why I'm volunteering my time on this
Hello, Louis Reyes here. Disclosure up front since this is political: I'm the volunteer running the Yes on Measures EV & EL campaign, unpaid, because I believe in what these measures do.
I've been doing civic organizing work in Whittier for almost 30 years. I co-founded the Whittier Latino Coalition back in 1998, and I was the litigants’ spokesman at the center of the litigation that ended at-large City Council elections here and gave us the district system we vote under today.
That fight was about equity — making sure every part of this city could elect someone who actually comes from the community they represent, not just whoever could win citywide. Representatives who live where they serve stay connected to the people who elected them, and they listen while making decisions for the entire city.
Measures EV and EL come from that same place. A representative who's accountable to their district still needs to be accountable to a term limit, and a city that elects people by district still needs an election system where the whole community actually shows up to vote.
When our Council election ran alongside the November statewide ballot in 2020, over 22,000 residents voted. When we went back to a stand-alone April election, that number collapsed — same city, same people, just a different date. Election consolidation will increase voter turnout.
Measure EV fixes the date problem — it moves our Council elections onto the November ballot for good.
Measure EL adds a 12-year term limit on the Mayor and Council, the same standard LA, Culver City, Glendale, Torrance, and Anaheim already use, so no seat quietly becomes permanent regardless of who holds it.
Neither one is about a specific person. Both are about whether this city's government reflects the actual community, not just the most reliable fraction of it. It’s good government election reform.
I'm asking you to vote yes on both — Measure EV and Measure EL.
Happy to answer anything — why I think this matters as much as it does. And if you want a yard sign or more info: Vote@YesonEVandEL.com / YesonEVandEL.com.