A lawsuit has drawn national attention to Pasadena, Harris County’s second-largest city.
Redistricting issues, including closed-door meetings over restructuring, are under scrutiny based on allegations that the city’s system of elected government discriminates against Latinos.
Redistricting has raised contentious debate in Pasadena for several years. 
In 2013, the city voted to change how it elects city council members. The city eliminated two of eight council seats, replacing the two single-member districts with at-large districts. The residents who brought the lawsuit argue the new structure is designed to create a city system of elected government that discriminates against Latinos. Specifically, they claim the structure impedes the ability to address uneven allocation of resources between the racially divided areas of the city.
In the last decade, Pasadena shifted demographically from mainly white working class into a majority Latino suburb. The ethnic divide runs along the city’s north-south corridor.
Federal trial began November 18 in Houston and continues after the Thanksgiving break, when Mayor Johnny Isbell will testify at length.
Source: The Houston Chronicle, “Widely watched lawsuit over Pasadena voting rights set to begin,” by Gabrielle Banks and Emily Foxhall, November 17, 2016