Clear Winners in L.A. Redistricting Plan

Latinos and the San Fernando Valley would gain seats and clout on the Los Angeles City Council under a redistricting plan that a city commission voted Tuesday to send to the council.

The plan to redraw the 15 council districts would give Latinos a plurality in five districts, compared with four currently. The plan would maintain three districts in which African American voters constitute a plurality, the same as at present.

Recognizing that much of the city’s population growth recorded in the 2000 census was in the northern part of the city, the new plan also would increase, from four to five, the number of council districts wholly in the Valley.

“These are very significant changes,” said John Emerson, chairman of the Los Angeles Redistricting Commission, which voted to recommend the plan to the council. “To have one-third of the council districts wholly in the Valley and one-third predominantly comprised of Latino residents reflects the demographic trends in Los Angeles.”

The City Council is expected to approve a final plan by July 1.

More than 300 people attended Tuesday’s hearing, including six council members who argued for boundary changes that would benefit their districts.

There was controversy.

In order to create another district entirely within the Valley, the commission moved the 6th District, now representing the Westside, to the East Valley. Venice Councilwoman Ruth Galanter, who will be forced out of the 6th District next year by term limits, would represent new constituents in the Valley until then.

Under the plan, much of Galanter’s old district will be merged into a reconfigured 11th Council District, which will include much of the coastal area from West Los Angeles to Westchester and be represented by Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski.

Galanter had sought to represent the coastal district, arguing that the plan disenfranchises those who voted for her. She may ask the council to delay implementing the new district boundaries.

Miscikowski’s term expires in three years. Had she been assigned to the 6th District instead of Galanter, Valley voters would be without representation by a council member of their own choosing for that period.

Under the plan, the 1st, 7th, 13th, 14th and new 6th districts would all have about 40% Latino voter registration or more, giving that ethnic community a plurality of voters.

The California Latino Redistricting Coalition will review the map eventually approved by the City Council to make sure Latino voter registration is not diluted, according to Chairman Alan Clayton. If any of those five districts fall below 40% Latino voter registration, it might result in a Voting Rights Act complaint with the U.S. Justice Department, he said.

If properly drawn, the plan would give the city’s growing Latino population the greater clout it deserves, Clayton said.

“If you have one-third of the council seats, Latinos would have a major influence on major policy decisions,” he said.

Commissioner Richard Close, chairman of the secession group Valley VOTE, said the new plan is a mixed blessing.

“We are finally getting what we are entitled to,” Close said, crediting the threat of Valley secession with creating incentive for the change. Commissioners, including Emerson, said the secession issue played a role in convincing the panel that the Valley needed better representation.

“It does improve the Valley’s clout somewhat,” Close said. “However, having a non-Valley councilperson represent part of the Valley for the next year--I’m not sure how that helps.”

Even if five Valley districts are created, about 200,000 Valley residents would be left over, to be divided between two other districts. Close argued unsuccessfully that all 200,000 be placed in one district. Currently, three districts include small portions of the Valley.

Another battle Tuesday was over a proposal by Councilman Nick Pacheco to extend his 14th District to represent more of downtown. He wanted the area generally east of Grand Avenue. Ninth District Councilwoman Jan Perry fought successfully to keep representing most of downtown, forcing the panel to leave a decision on Pacheco’s proposal to the council.

The commission rejected a last-minute proposal by Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas to move LAX from the coastal district into his 8th Council District, after several Westchester residents protested the split of their community.

The plan does seek to keep communities of interest together, so that, for instance, Van Nuys, which is currently split among five districts, would be divided between two in the new plan.

“We feel pretty comfortable what we came up with is a vast improvement over what exists now in terms of keeping communities of interest together,” Emerson said.

The commission voted to recommend the new plan after more than 50 hours of public hearings all over Los Angeles at which more than 1,000 people testified.