Letters to the Editor: A new L.A. council district map that makes sense? Yes please!
Published: Monday, May 1, 2013 at 5:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, April 30, 2013 at 10:50 p.m.
For the first time since the establishment of Los Angeles City Council District 1, new boundaries have been proposed for the district after a thorough review of the existing boundaries to ensure that they were not discriminatory or unreasonable.
District 1 has been identified as a priority district for L.A. County, as the district includes both the city and the county. The new proposals for the district also include a small portion of the city of El Segundo on the north side of the Los Angeles River; a large portion of Venice, east of the Arroyo Seco on the south side of the river; and a large portion of South Pasadena and the community of Crenshaw, on the south side of the Los Angeles River, west of the Arroyo Seco River.
City Councilmember Bob Blumenfield proposed the new boundaries and noted that it created an equal number of representatives in Districts 1 and 7, which is the largest council district in the county.
“With this proposal, we would have about the same number of council members representing the City of L.A. and the County of Los Angeles,” said Blumenfield. “I urge all parties to work with me and the others to make this the first piece of our long-overdue plan.”
District 1, which has long been proposed as a separate district, would be split into seven smaller districts with four council members representing the city and three representing the L.A. County.
The new boundaries would be drawn such that there is an equal number of representatives for districts 1 and 7 (four members from each district), and for districts 6 and 9 (four members from each district). However, district 6 and 9 would include much of the city of El Segundo.
District 1 is currently represented by council members Gloria Molina, Zev Yaroslavsky and Jose Huizar, making it the second district (after District 6) represented by council member