Alatorre, in Rare Move, Calls Hearing on Districting

The chairman of the Los Angeles City Council’s redistricting committee Friday took the unusual step of calling a public hearing for next week on a tentatively approved plan that would drastically change the political geography of the East San Fernando Valley.

The action was seen as an effort by chairman Richard Alatorre to win Mayor Tom Bradley’s support for the plan. Bradley has been under pressure from Valley activists to veto the plan, which they believe will weaken their influence at City Hall.

An aide to Councilman Michael Woo, one of the plan’s architects, said Woo hopes to use the hearing Tuesday night in Pacoima to demonstrate to Bradley the strong support for the plan, especially among Valley Latinos.

The plan 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 Councilman Ernani Bernardi with a Latino population of at least 44%. Latino political leaders believe they could win the seat by defeating Bernardi or waiting until the 74-year-old councilman retires.

Bernardi Tells Reaction

Bernardi said it is the first time in his 25 years on the council that he has seen the council hold a hearing after it has already acted. “Do they expect the hearing to change the minds of the council members who already have committed themselves?” Bernardi asked.

In a related development, Councilman Joel Wachs on Friday began exploring the long-shot possibility of preparing yet another redistricting plan that would preserve the Valley districts, including his own Studio City-Sherman Oaks political base. He conceded that even if a compromise plan is possible, it could not be drawn up before the council’s final vote Wednesday on the current plan. It could be ready in case Bradley vetoes the current plan, as Wachs hopes.

Wachs would suffer most from the Ferraro-Woo plan because his current district would be so severely altered that he would lose most of his political and financial base. He and Bernardi, the only other council member whose district would be vastly changed under the current proposal, are its most vehement opponents.

Wachs said he has asked Caltech political science professor Bruce Cain, the city’s reapportionment consultant, to study alternatives to the current plan.

Wachs Looking for Options

“I’m going to see if there’s options,” Wachs said in an interview. He said he has no specific proposal in mind but wants to make sure that any plan does not weaken the Valley’s political influence at City Hall, as he claims the tentatively approved plan does.

West Valley Councilwoman Joy Picus, however, said she doubts the council would approve another plan.

“I think it serves most people’s interests to support this plan,” she said.

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 Woo and Councilman John Ferraro, who could keep their own districts. The proposal, drawn by Ferraro and Woo, thus would enable them to avoid running against each other, as necessitated under the plan currently in effect.

Alatorre defended his decision to call a hearing now.

“All I’m attempting to do is hold a hearing so that other people who might have an interest in testifying could be heard,” he said. “Who knows what’s going to happen?”

Alatorre said he called the hearing, to be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Hubert H. Humphrey Recreation Center, 12560 Fillmore St., Pacoima, in response to “requests by Valley residents for an evening hearing in their area” on the plan.

Earlier this week, a top adviser to Bradley criticized the council for failing to provide a greater opportunity for public comment. Dodo Meyer, Bradley’s Valley deputy, said she also would urge the mayor to veto the plan.

Bradley’s support could be critical. Ten of the 14 council votes (one seat is vacant because of Finn’s death) are necessary to override a mayoral veto. Although 10 members voted for the plan when it was given preliminary approval Wednesday, Bradley is close to a number of council members and would need to swing only one to his side to kill the plan.

Council offices and those of Bradley have been inundated by phone calls from Valley residents protesting the plan.

“We haven’t had a breather all day,” Christiane Barrett, a City Hall switchboard operator, said Friday. She said the lines have been so busy that callers have complained of having to wait 20 minutes to get through.

The calls were in response to 80,000 letters sent to Valley residents earlier this week by Bernardi and Wachs urging them to protest the plan.

Picus Tells of Calls

Picus said calls to her office have been so heavy that her staff can’t get any work done. She said she was annoyed by the calls since she joined Bernardi and Wachs in opposing the plan.

Councilman Hal Bernson’s office reported receiving a total of about 150 calls on Thursday and Friday, but few from their own West Valley constituents.

Aides to Council President Pat Russell and Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky also reported receiving a lot of calls, but not a record number.

The redistricting is in response to a U.S. Justice Department lawsuit accusing the city of splitting Latino neighborhoods--and diluting their political strength--among several council districts in violation of the Voting Rights Act.

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