Council OKs Remap Plan, Pits Woo Against Ferraro

Bowing to pressure from Mayor Tom Bradley, the Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday gave preliminary approval to its second redistricting plan in as many days, this time setting up a 1987 election fight between incumbent Councilmen John Ferraro and Michael Woo in a newly drawn district that encompasses both of their political bases.

The move marked a reversal of the council’s action Tuesday, in which it turned down a chance to approve a similar two-incumbent plan and instead voted to protect Ferraro in his mid-Wilshire district and throw Woo into a heavily Latino district.

Bradley promptly vetoed that measure, charging that it discriminated against Asian voters and Woo. Its supporters Wednesday were unable to pull together the 10 votes necessary to override the mayoral veto.

Instead, after a 90-minute executive session, the council members voted 13-2 for the alternate plan that places Ferraro and Woo in the 4th District, now represented by Ferraro. Only council members Joan Milke Flores and Ernani Bernardi opposed it.

“It would be fruitless to try to open up the process of trying to override the mayor’s veto,” said Councilman Richard Alatorre, who drafted the plan rejected by Bradley Tuesday and presented the one tentatively approved on Wednesday.

“This is as fair a compromise as we could strike, he said.”

Approval of the latest plan--likely to be affirmed in a second vote next week--in addition to being a political victory for Bradley, heralded a defeat for Ferraro by pushing him into an expected race against Woo. And council rookie Woo, although he said he would rather run against Ferraro than run in a predominantly Latino district, faces a tough battle to unseat the 20-year council veteran.

Ferraro, who could face Woo in next April’s municipal election, fired the first round in that battle by pointedly ordering Woo not to meddle in district affairs as long as Ferraro is the incumbent.

“I don’t want any interference from other members of the council in dealing with the responsibility of a councilman in his district,” Ferraro warned. “I’m just going to lay that out in front. . . . I expect that kind of respect from all members of the City Council.”

Political Consequences

The plan’s approval also proved to be a lesson in political consequences for Councilman Joel Wachs, who flip-flopped on the Alatorre plan that was vetoed by the mayor. When the measure was first approved one week ago, Wachs supported Alatorre--but on Tuesday he opposed him.

On Wednesday morning, Wachs found that the plan that eventually won council approval stripped him of a large part of affluent Sherman Oaks, a source of campaign contributions.

Wachs charged that the change in his district lines was meant to punish him for withdrawing his initial support. Alatorre, asked whether that was true, grinned and declined to answer directly.

“That’s the way things happen,” he said, smiling.

The council was forced to redraw its boundary lines when the Justice Department filed suit against the city, claiming that the 1982 redistricting plan had violated the Voting Rights Act by diluting the voting strength of Latinos. Rather than allow the Justice Department or the federal court judge hearing the case to redraw the lines, the council agreed to create a second Latino-majority district.

Several Alternatives

In recent weeks, several plans were floated in a confusing array of public hearings. Alatorre first drafted the plan that would have made Woo’s 13th District the new Latino district. An angry Woo, supported by Asian voters and residents of his Hollywood base, retaliated with a second plan that placed Ferraro in the Latino district.

When Woo’s plan appeared to lack support, council President Pat Russell countered with a third plan that pitted Woo against Ferraro for one seat and could have left the second seat open for Latino candidates.

The majority of council members formally approved the Alatorre plan Tuesday but after the mayor’s veto, they switched their support to the new plan--also introduced by Alatorre--on Wednesday. Although presented by Alatorre and bearing his name, the new plan was strikingly similar to Russell’s original compromise plan, differing only in the placement of about 7,000 voters, officials said.

Woo’s Territory

In the latest remapping, the 4th District includes Woo’s territory of Hollywood, Silver Lake and the Hollywood Hills, along with Ferraro’s loyal Park La Brea and mid-Wilshire area.

Both incumbents on Wednesday charged that the other had the advantage in the combined district.

“He’s going to be the one who will be able to make decisions about zoning,” Woo said of Ferraro. “He’ll be the one who’ll be cutting ribbons in that district. I think he has a significant advantage.”

“I think it favors Mr. Woo, but that seems to be the trend in the City Council, set by the president. . . . It’s obviously been padded for Mr. Woo,” Ferraro said.

But Ferraro said he was confident he could beat Woo. “I don’t know if it’s going to be easy,” he added.

According to the city attorney’s office, the plan approved by the council actually gives Woo two chances to run for office without giving up his current seat. Because his home is in the new 4th District, he could run against Ferraro there in 1987. If he wins, he would resign his 13th District seat and assume the 4th District seat. Voters in the 13th District--containing the heavily Latino areas of Lincoln Heights, Pico Union, Echo Park and Highland Park--would then be able to replace him in a special election.

Other Possibility

If he loses, he would have until 1989 to move into the newly constituted 13th District and run as the incumbent. Although he could be at a disadvantage if voters there strongly supported a Latino candidate, he would have had several years to build up name identification as the incumbent.

The plan still has to win final approval by the council next week before it is sent to the mayor for his consideration. Although Bradley has not publicly voiced support for any redistricting plan, he privately favored the Russell plan putting Ferraro and Woo in one district. Since his plan is similar and council members favor it overwhelmingly, Alatorre expects no problems winning final City Council approval of the latest plan.

“We have exhausted every remedy that’s possible and this is the only one left,” he said.

After it wins the council’s and the mayor’s approval, the redistricting plan will be filed in federal court. The Justice Department and other plaintiffs in the suit against the city--several groups representing minority voters--will then have 15 days to review the plan and file any legal challenges, said Assistant City Atty. Shelley Rosenfield.

Should the judge uphold the challenges, the matter could go to trial where the redistricting plan as eventually adopted could be altered again.

But while Justice Department officials have offered no public verdict on the latest plan, another plaintiff, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said Wednesday that it supports the tentatively approved boundary lines.

“We like it,” said Richard Fajardo, counsel for the fund. “It’s a good plan.”