A group of community leaders representing a diversity of voices met on June 8 to show its support for a new Latino-majority district in the San Diego City Council.

    The proposed new district would use the diverse area of City Heights as the foundation of this second majority-Latino district.

    Mateo Camarillo, chairman of the Latino Redistricting Committee, said at a news conference that the new district will represent the growth among Latinos in San Diego.

    “According to Census data, the greatest growth in the city has been within our communities of color,” he said.

    The news conference was attended by a coalition of African-American, Asian-American, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) leaders.

    San Diego’s Redistricting Commission will be releasing a preliminary map before the end of the month, but the Latino Redistricting Committee has already released a proposed map that includes the new majority-Latino district with City Heights as its “backbone.”

    “We included input from community groups, from residents of the area,” Camarillo said.

    Barry Pollard, chair of the 4th District Redistricting Committee, said that African-American communities in San Diego will be strengthen by a new Latino district.

    “The purpose of the redistricting process is to have better representation for everyone,” he said. “The numbers speak for themselves: The demographics of our city clearly illustrate that Latino residents deserve an additional City Council district.”

    City Heights is home to more than 80 languages, including many African languages brought by refugees from countries such as Somalia. The majority of its residents are Latinos.

    Monica Rocha, who has lived for almost 20 years in City Heights, said that the community deserves better.

    “We’re interested in being better represented,” said Rocha, who is with Latinos y Latinas en Acción, a local grassroots group. “We want the city council to pay more attention to City Heights, we deserve more resources.”

   The 2010 census results showed a 32 percent growth in San Diego County’s Latino population.

   The San Diego City Council currently has a majority-Latino district, District 8, which includes San Ysidro, Otay Mesa, and South San Diego.

   “We want the empowerment of our communities,” Camarillo said.