Bernardi, Wachs Seek Allies Among Voters

“Don’t let the Valley get robbed at City Hall,” begins a letter sent early this week to 80,000 San Fernando Valley homes by Los Angeles City Councilmen Ernani Bernardi and Joel Wachs.

The letter underscores a major argument used by opponents of the City Council’s latest redistricting plan. The letter urges residents to call council members and Mayor Tom Bradley to protest the plan on grounds that it cheats the Valley of representation.

On Thursday, after letters began arriving at residents’ homes, a Bradley spokesman said, “We’ve been inundated with calls.” He could not provide a count but estimated there were more than 100.

Whether the plan, given preliminary approval on a 10-4 vote by the council Wednesday, will hurt--or help--the Valley politically is disputed, however, even among Valley officials.

West Valley Councilman Hal Bernson, who voted for the plan, said it would give Councilmen John Ferraro, Michael Woo and Zev Yaroslavsky “an interest, whereas they had none before” because their Los Angeles districts would extend into the Valley.

8 of 15 in Valley

A majority of the council districts--eight out of 15--would be entirely or partially in the Valley for the first time, Bernson said.

But another Valley council member, Joy Picus, an opponent of the plan, pointed out that Valley areas will make up a small part of the districts of Ferraro, Woo and Yaroslavsky.

“When your political base is not in the Valley, you could care less about how the Valley folks feel,” she said.

The plan, which will come before the council for a final vote next week, drastically carves up the East Valley council districts, providing different representation to nearly half a million residents. Bernardi and Wachs oppose the plan, which would affect them the most, eliminating areas where they have enjoyed their strongest political support.

The plan eliminates the northeast Valley’s 1st District, which was represented by the late Councilman Howard Finn, and parcels out that territory to Bernardi and Wachs. Portions of Wachs’ district would be assigned to Ferraro and Woo, who could keep their own districts. The tentatively approved proposal, drawn by Ferraro and Woo, thus would enable them to avoid running against each other, as necessitated under the plan currently in effect.

Would Open Door to Latino

The Ferraro-Woo plan also would increase the opportunity for the first Latino to be elected to the council from the Valley. It would establish a new Valley district, represented by Bernardi, with a Latino population of 44%, based on the 1980 census. But the city’s reapportionment consultant says the Latino population is probably higher in the proposed district because of the growth of that ethnic group there since 1980.

Under the plan, four of the 15 council members--Bernardi, Bernson, Picus and Wachs--would live in the Valley. Previously, five council members were Valley residents. Finn lived here before his death Aug. 12 of a ruptured aorta. His successor would have come from the Valley had the council not decided to consider carving up the district after his death.

Little Change for Braude

In addition to four who live here and the three who would be added under the Ferraro-Woo plan, there is Marvin Braude, whose largely Westside 11th District has long extended into Encino, Tarzana and Woodland Hills. Braude’s district would remain largely unchanged under the new plan.

Wachs would lose 90% of his current 2nd District, including much of the Sherman Oaks and Studio City area he has long represented and which provides much of his political and financial support. His new 2nd District would take in most of Van Nuys and portions of North Hollywood and Sepulveda now represented by Bernardi. The liberal Wachs also would gain the conservative Sunland-Tujunga area, previously represented by Finn.

Bernardi’s new 7th District would take in Lake View Terrace, Mission Hills, Pacoima, Sun Valley and Sylmar, which were all part of Finn’s district.

Bernardi’s Van Nuys home and Wachs’ Studio City residence would be in their new districts, connected by long, thin fingers extending from the hearts of their new districts.

New to the Valley would be Ferraro, whose mid-Wilshire 4th District would extend over the Santa Monica Mountains to take in much of Wachs’ current territory, plus Toluca Lake, most of North Hollywood and the eastern side of Studio City. Most of the rest of Wachs’ district would be ceded to Woo’s Hollywood-based 13th District, which would extend over the mountains to the western part of Studio City and the eastern half of Sherman Oaks.

Yaroslavsky Gains More

Yaroslavsky, whose largely Westside 5th District was extended into Sherman Oaks under the earlier redistricting plan, will get even more of the affluent Valley area, plus part of North Hollywood and Van Nuys. The change should afford Yaroslavsky greater exposure in the Valley, and enable him to broaden his base for his stated desire to run for mayor some day.

No changes would be made in the West Valley districts of Bernson and Picus, who represent the 12th and 3rd Districts, respectively.

In opposing the Ferraro-Woo plan, Bernardi, Wachs and Picus contended it would hurt the Valley. South Central Los Angeles Councilman Robert Farrell cast the fourth “no” vote.

Dodo Meyer, Bradley’s administrative assistant in the Valley, said she will urge the mayor to veto the plan because “of what it does to the Valley.”

“They tell you there are going to be eight seats in the Valley. But four will live here instead of five,” Meyer said.

Difference in Areas

“There’s a difference between living in the Valley and living some place else and representing it,” Wachs said.

“Thirteen years ago, I moved from Hollywood to the Valley,” Wachs said. “In those 13 years of living in the Valley, shopping in the Valley and doing things all the time in the Valley, I have a different appreciation of the Valley than when you live over in Hollywood and once every three months, you go to the Sportsmen’s Lodge for some banquet in the Valley.”

‘Appendage of Hollywood’

Concern also has been expressed that Valley areas will be given second-class treatment to larger areas of the districts south of Mulholland Drive. Nancy Pohl, board chairman of Briarcliff Improvement Assn. in Studio City, said at the council hearing Wednesday that the plan would make her community “a mere appendage of Hollywood.”

However, one council member who has represented the Valley without living there disagrees.

“I’ve had no problem representing the Valley very well,” Braude said, adding: “I think that the reality is that people should judge individuals, and they should judge results.”

“I’ve had major programs in the Valley,” he said in an interview, citing his efforts to restrict development and control signs on Ventura Boulevard.

And Bernson termed claims that the plan would hurt the Valley “absurd.”

“The fact of the matter is that the Valley had four full council districts prior to reapportionment, and under the new plan, it will have four full districts,” he said.

Wachs’ current district extends south over the Santa Monica Mountains and therefore is not a “full” Valley district.

Bernson said Bernardi’s and Wachs’ “personal interests are the ones at stake, not the Valley.”

Dismisses Concerns

Dismissing the importance of council members living in the Valley, he said: “The most important thing is where their constituents live, not where they live.”

Bernson also disputed claims that Valley residents would get less representation because they will make up a small part of a largely mid-city district. “Anytime you represent people in an area, you have to have an interest in that area,” he said in an interview. “They have to have your ear, and they should. Otherwise, they’re not going to vote for you.”

Bernson downplayed the importance of the number of Valley districts to council decisions. He also pointed out that Valley council members are philosophically very different.

“There is no Valley bloc,” he said. Bernson said he could not recall a single issue where council members divided along Valley vs. the rest of Los Angeles lines.

A number of Valley homeowners have complained that the plan would assign them council members whom they did not elect and who are not familiar with the unique problems of their communities.

That is a sentiment Bernardi and Wachs are counting on in trying to rally their own constituents and other Valley residents to their cause. The one-page letter they sent, mainly to East Valley residents, said the plan “would completely destroy the integrity of the 1st District and seriously hurt the rest of the Valley as well. It could cause a big cut in the amount of money the Valley gets for necessary police officers, firefighters and street improvements.”

Paid for by Campaign Funds

The costs were paid from the two councilmen’s campaign funds.

But what the response will be is anybody’s guess, especially in Wachs’ district, where some homeowner group leaders had complained previously that their councilman wasn’t responsive enough to their needs.

Wachs and his staff, after several meetings with the homeowners to listen to their complaints, said the problem was cleared up.

However, Richard Close, president of Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn., said residents probably will not be upset by the impending change in council representatives.

“I really think a lot of people in Sherman Oaks and Studio City feel there is a need for a new councilman,” he said in an interview.

Close said Wachs has become responsive only in recent months, after homeowner leaders complained to the councilman that he “was not accessible and seemed bored” with his job.

“The feeling is that he spent too much time on citywide issues like rent control and not enough time solving district problems,” such as development on traffic-clogged Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks and Studio City, Close said.

Wachs Questions Validity

But Wachs questioned whether Close’s views represent those of most of his constituents.

“He is not Sherman Oaks,” Wachs said, adding that he and Close have had a “running friction for a long time.” He attributed the homeowner leader’s comments to his own political ambitions.

“He has always wanted to run for the council,” Wachs said.

Close said he welcomes the prospect of being represented by Woo.

“I think he has the same point of view as we do. He’s a planner by profession, and that’s what we need. I found him to be very responsive. He’s young and trying to work hard to be a good councilman. That would be good for Sherman Oaks.”

The redrawing of political district boundaries usually occurs only once every 10 years and is required to reflect population and other changes detected by the latest census. The need to redraw council district lines midway through the decade arose because of a Justice Department lawsuit alleging that the city had shortchanged its burgeoning Latino population.

In order to settle the suit, the council agreed to redraw lines to create to second predominantly Latino district near downtown. To do so, however, after a bruising political fight, they put Woo and Ferraro into the same district.

The new lines were before the court for settlement when Finn suddenly died. Ferraro and Woo, seeing an opportunity to create a second Latino district without sacrificing their political careers, seized on Finn’s death and drew a new plan carving up Finn’s district.

EFFECTS OF REDISTRICTING PLAN

East Valley council districts would be drastically carved up, providing new representation to nearly half a million residents.

A majority of the council districts--eight out of 15--would be entirely or partially in the Valley for the first time.

Council members Joy Picus and Hal Bernson would be unaffected.

There would be only minor changes for Councilman Marvin Braude, whose Westside-based district covers parts of the Valley.

Most severely affected would be Councilmen Ernani Bernardi and Joel Wachs. The plan would eliminate areas where they have enjoyed their strongest political support. They would lose parts of their districts to John Ferraro, Michael Woo and Zev Yaroslavsky.

ERNANI BERNARDI - Councilman, 7th District

Current Constituency

Communities: Arleta, Van Nuys, Panorama City, Sepulveda, and parts of Mission Hills and North Hollywood

Ethnic makeup: 23% Latino, 5% Asian, 3% black, 69% Anglos and others.

Proposed Constituency

Communities: Arleta, Pacoima, Sylmar, Mission Hills, Lake View Terrace, Panorama City, and parts of Sun Valley and Van Nuys

Ethnic makeup: 44% Latino, 4% Asian, 9% black, 43% Anglos and others.

JOEL WACHS - Councilman, 2nd District

Current Constituency

Communities: Sherman Oaks, Studio City, North Hollywood, Los Feliz, Hollywood Hills, and parts of North Hollywood, Silver Lake and Echo Park

Ethnic makeup: 19% Latino, 6% Asian, 2% black, 73% Anglos and others.

Proposed Constituency

Communities: Shadow Hills, Sunland, Tujunga, Sepulveda, Van Nuys, and parts of Sun Valley, North Hollywood and Studio City

Ethnic makeup: 17% Latino, 4% Asian, 3% black, 76% Anglos and others.