Thursday, March 28, 2002
Page 11
Padilla Appoints Five City Council Members to Redistricting Committee
By a MetNews Staff Writer
City Council President Alex Padilla yesterday named five council members to review the proposed maps for new council and school district boundaries.
Councilman Jack Weiss will chair the Ad Hoc Committee on Redistricting, which includes council members Nick Pacheco, Eric Garcetti, Jan Perry and Dennis Zine.
“The members of the Ad Hoc Committee on Redistricting will work to ensure that citizens receive equitable and fair representation on both the City Council and the Board of the Los Angeles Unified School District,” Padilla said in a statement.
The City Council Redistricting Commission made its final recommendations Tuesday night when it approved a map that would give the San Fernando Valley five seats on the City Council, instead of the current four. The commission also recommended combining several elements of the current 11th and 6th Districts into one coastal district, to be represented by Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, who has three years still to serve under term limits.
Perry and Pacheco clashed over a proposal by Pacheco to extend his 14th District to represent more of downtown. Perry, who represents the Ninth District, fought to keep representing the vast majority of the downtown area, leaving the decision on Pacheco’s proposal up to the council.
“Based on the valuable and often passionate input from thousands of Angelenos throughout the city, we’ve been able to produce a map that is fair and responsive to community concerns,” commission chair John Emerson said.
The commission, which was created by the 1999 City Charter, approved the map after hearing more than 50 hours of public hearings and testimony from over 1,000 residents.
The council is expected to approve a final plan by July 1.
Copyright 2002, Metropolitan News Company