Latinos Criticize Remap Plan Approved by Council Panel

Setting up a possible legal confrontation with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, a Los Angeles City Council panel Tuesday approved a redistricting map that critics say preserves the status quo for city lawmakers.

“We’re looking seriously at litigation,” MALDEF attorney Vibiana Andrade said, contending that the proposed map is “little more than an incumbent protection plan.”

Council President John Ferraro contended that the plan increases Latino political clout at City Hall by carving out Latino majorities in the districts of San Fernando Valley Councilman Ernani Bernardi and Hollywood Councilman Mike Woo. Bernardi plans to retire next year; Woo, a likely mayoral candidate, did not return calls seeking comment on the map.

The plan, drafted by Ferraro after private one-on-one meetings with council members, was approved by the council’s reapportionment committee 4 to 1, with Councilman Richard Alatorre dissenting. The measure will come before a special session of the council Thursday.

Ferraro said city lawyers have assured him that the map is legal, and he added, “I think we have the votes” to pass it.

MALDEF contended that the proposed map doesn’t go far enough in helping to elect two more Latino council members. Latinos, who account for about 40% of the city’s population, currently hold two seats on the 15-member body.

“By fragmenting our community, we believe the city is looking at a violation of . . . the Voting Rights Act,” Andrade told the council panel. The law prohibits breaking up blocs of minority voters.

MALDEF has previously sued the City Council and the County Board of Supervisors over redistricting plans. The council in 1986 settled out of court by drawing a plan that led to the election of a second Latino council member. Supervisors spent $12 million in a losing court fight that led to the election last year of Gloria Molina to the County Board.

MALDEF urged council members to approve the map that the civil rights organization submitted last week. That fashioned a district north and west of downtown with a higher percentage of Latino voters than the map approved Tuesday.

Noting that MALDEF’s map drew opposition from the black community because it stripped black Councilwoman Rita Walters of a coveted part of downtown and gave it to Latino council members, Ferraro said: “Los Angeles cannot let itself be drawn into divisive disputes along racial or ethnic lines.”