With Wednesday’s deadline, the LA County’s Citizen Relocation Commission is ready to formalize the final map – Daily News

After weeks of tensions over the fate of Los Angeles County’s interest groups, the county’s first independent redistribution commission is on the cusp of a historic moment: the formal approval of a map of newly drawn district supervisory districts that has not drawn a board of directors for the first time. Repeat: Not drawn.

With its meeting on Wednesday, the 14-member commission is ready to pass a “final resolution” and to draw up a report for the district map completed on Sunday among the people.

Commissioners have stressed that the Commission’s aim is not to redraw the lines based on what incentives they have called motivated overseers in the past. As Commission Co-Chair Daniel Mayeda said this week, “In the past, politicians have chosen the voters they want to represent. In an independent commission, the people choose their districts. No politician likes that. “

In 2016, the state legislature passed Senate Law 958, which aimed to bring the county’s redistribution processes in line with the state-wide system introduced by the electorate through Proposition 11 in 2008, at the hands of self-serving elected officials.

In a month-long process, residents and leaders from across the county have called on the commission to keep their communities “whole”. This is important for groups united by common political interests that can focus their voting rights to vote, work with a supervisor of their choice, and ultimately influence district politics.

San Fernando leaders and residents have pleaded with the commission to keep most of the Valley in one district, with as few others as possible, in order to choose a long elusive superior from the Valley.

Many coastal communities – from Redondo Beach to the Palos Verdes Peninsula – have pushed to stay united because of their shared interests.

Eastside LA residents and leaders have urged staying together to preserve the power and services they have built in District 1 under the Hilda Solis oversight agency.

The South LA communities had raised concerns about proposals they say have watered down their voices in District 2, where African Americans have come to power.

And communities in southeast LA have raised similar concerns and sought to remain united in an effort to safeguard the interests of the predominantly Latin American working class.

Members of the county redistribution commission for independent citizens at a recent meeting.

In the end, there was a crucial dispute over whether coastal communities like Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, and Manhattan Beach should be grouped in Holly Mitchell’s District 2 or held together with Rancho Palos Verdes and Long Beach in Janice Hahn’s District 4.

The commissioners had apparently agreed on a map, but a last-minute change split communities like Sun Valley, North Hollywood, and Valley Village and split portions into District 3 and Supervisor Kathryn Barger’s northern LA County District 5 to preserve the communities Interest related to the entertainment industry together – including Universal City and Burbank.

The final version also divided the town of La Verne at the foot of the San Gabriel Valley, with the part that includes Fairplex assigned to District 1 of Solis and the northern part of the city to District of Barger 5.

Advisors to the commission will give a legal assessment of the card on Wednesday.

The new move must fall under the Federal Electoral Law and the districts must:

–Be geographically connected;

– be drawn in such a way that the separation of cities, districts or interest groups is minimized;

– Not being “gerrymandered”, that is, attracted to favor a political group, party or incumbent; and

– Include around 2 million people at a time.

The Commission’s final report also looks at the lessons learned from a process that started in the second half of 2020 when the Commission was selected. Slowed down by the pandemic and a delayed census in 2020, the process got to the point.

But commissioners and the public have pointed to other issues, including the sheer size of the county and whether there should be more counties to fully accommodate its diversity.

As soon as the cards were formalized, they were taken over the next working day.

Two Los Angeles County overseers – Hahn and Sheila Kuehl – unsuccessfully pushed for a delay in the introduction of new borders last week.

In response to a request from Supervisor Hilda Solis to provide constituent services in accordance with the newly drawn counties within 24 hours of the commission’s final decision, Kuehl argued that a slower and more thoughtful transition would benefit the count’s residents better.

She said some nonprofits rely on district discretionary funding that a new manager may not honor. Kuehl pointed to relationships that took years to build with neighborhood councils, nonprofits, and other organizations that make up the fabric of their district.

But under state law, the board has no voice or power to change the outcome, and the final card – once formalized and backed up with the commission’s legal rationale – is sent to the county registrar’s office.

The next meeting of the commission is Wednesday at 5 p. M. Visit here to access the meeting via Zoom or Youtube.

To view the proposed final map, visit https://redistricting-lacounty.hub.arcgis.com/.

City News Service contributed to this story.