Panel OKs Civic Center Move to Pacheco District

A plan to move the Los Angeles Civic Center area into Councilman Nick Pacheco’s domain received a 3-2 vote Thursday from the City Council’s redistricting committee.

The move sets up a bitter fight between Pacheco and Councilwoman Jan Perry, who currently represents the city core, when the matter goes to the full council for ratification early next month.

Pacheco says he simply wants to unite areas of interest, such as linking City Hall to the city’s birthplace, Olvera Street, which is in his district.

But Perry has accused the councilman of a power grab and has vowed to take her case to the council.

“I’m just one woman fighting to keep my district together, because that’s what my constituents have asked me to do,” said Perry, whose 9th Council District includes downtown and parts of South-Central.

The showdown between Pacheco and Perry has been brewing for months.

Initially, Pacheco submitted a motion asking that much of Perry’s district, including Bunker Hill, be shifted to his 14th District and to the 1st District, represented by Pacheco’s ally Ed Reyes.

The suggestion brought a flood of opposition from the downtown business community, prompting Pacheco, who represents Eastside areas, to revise his plans. He then suggested that Reyes get the new Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, while he would take the new Walt Disney Concert Hall and other parts of downtown east of Hill Street.

After fielding complaints from Cardinal Roger Mahony and patrons of the Music Center, who pointed out that Disney Hall would be in a separate council district from the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Pacheco abandoned that idea.

On Thursday, he presented yet another plan to the committee, this one giving him a “finger” of downtown that would take in City Hall, the Los Angeles Times building, the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center (formerly the Criminal Courts Building), the California Department of Transportation building and other Civic Center offices.

“From my viewpoint, I respected a lot of comments I heard through public testimony,” Pacheco said. “The downtown business district stays with Jan. The Music Center and Disney Hall are together.

“When you look at the end result, I think I was pretty responsive to the different viewpoints, but at the same time I feel like I’ve done something that will make downtown better for everyone.”

He noted that he has agreed to give Perry a greater portion of skid row and the Fashion District as a trade-off.

Pacheco’s critics, however, say his plan makes no sense.

“It’s divisive and destructive,” said Carol Schatz, president of the Central City Assn. “From our perspective, he doesn’t get an inch of the 9th District. There is no legal basis for him to take it.”

Councilman Jack Weiss, who chaired the redistricting committee, echoed Schatz’s concerns.

“I felt that a sufficient case had not been made to justify altering the lines,” said Weiss, who joined Perry on Thursday in voting against Pacheco’s plan. Councilmen Dennis Zine and Eric Garcetti sided with Pacheco in voting for it.

The council is expected to take up the matter within the next two weeks when it considers dozens of other proposed boundary changes, including creating a fifth council district in the San Fernando Valley.