Q&A: LA County redistricting is out of the hands of the supervisors. Here’s why that matters

When it comes to redrawing Los Angeles County’s governmental boundaries, this twelvemonth is simply a first.

The yet-to-be-finalized caller maps — which find which communities volition beryllium represented by who connected the Board of Supervisors — are successful the hands of an autarkic Citizens Redistricting Commission, a 14-member committee charged with listening to the nationalist and creating a last map, based connected the latest Census figures. The enactment was erstwhile the domain of the supervisors, but not immoderate more.

There’s overmuch astatine involvement for the nascent board, which past week released caller mapping bundle the nationalist tin usage to suggest and taxable its ain maps.

“We privation to amusement a national committee tin bash the work,” said Gayla Kraetsch Hartsough, enforcement manager of the commission, who is tasked with managing the board, and making definite it stays connected way to conscionable a Dec. 15 deadline for what the county’s caller supervisorial districts volition look like. “If it’s to continue, we truly are mounting a precedent of however to bash it. It’s my anticipation we get it close and this becomes the prevailing mode we bash it 10 years from now.”

Slowed by the pandemic and a delayed 2020 Census, the process is nary little important, experts say.

“It has immense value toward giving minorities the quality to arsenic proceed successful the aboriginal and successful the sharing of powerfulness successful L.A. County,” said Alan Clayton, a redistricting expert. “There’s thing much important successful presumption of giving minorities an accidental to beryllium portion of the American imagination than redistricting.”

In theory, the committee represents a important change. Every 10 years earlier this year, it was the supervisors who drew the lines betwixt their districts, a process which for decades was characterized by governmental dealmaking and self-preservation.

But successful 2016, the authorities Legislature passed Senate Bill 958, which aimed to bring the county’s redistricting procedures successful enactment with the statewide strategy established by voters successful 2008 through Proposition 11. The thought was to promote bully authorities betterment and instrumentality predetermination rule-setting from the hands of self-interested elected officials.

As the committee races toward its December deadline for a representation to beryllium released to the public, present is simply a primer explaining the analyzable process.

WHAT IS REDISTRICTING?

At the L.A. County level, it is the redrawing of  the county’s supervisorial districts based connected Census information each 10 years. So, this year, the redraw is based connected 2020 Census information and nationalist input. That redraw fundamentally would make 5 revised supervisorial districts that bespeak the changes successful colonisation and demographics  that person occurred successful the existent districts implicit the past 10 years.

The redrawing indispensable autumn nether the national Voting Rights Act. The county’s 5 supervisorial districts must:

• Be geographically connected;
• Be drawn truthful arsenic to minimize dividing cities, neighborhoods, oregon communities of interest’
• Not beryllium “gerrymandered,” that is, drawn to favour immoderate governmental faction, enactment oregon officeholder; and
• Include astir 2 cardinal radical each.

WHY SHOULD I CARE ABOUT IT?

“Power flows from redistricting,” Clayton said. “L.A. County has implicit 10 cardinal individuals successful it. We’d beryllium similar the 8th-largest authorities successful the country. How that population’s numbers get breached down into districts determines who has power successful L.A. County.”

Clayton, agelong an adept successful however the region draws its lines, himself has submitted a representation for the commission’s consideration, based connected changes successful the population.

Under his calculations:

• Janice Hahn’s Fourth District would go much Latino;
• Hilda Solis’ First District would cede areas of the San Gabriel Valley and instrumentality implicit areas of the northeast San Fernando Valley; and
• Kathryn Barger’s 5th District to correspond much areas successful the San Gabriel Valley including ample Asian American communities.

Clayton’s representation is conscionable 1 configuration among galore proposals submitted to the commission. But it illustrates imaginable powerfulness blocs successful the metropolis and however colonisation shifts mightiness impact who runs for office, oregon who stays successful office.

WHO IS DOING THE REDISTRICTING?

The region Board of Supervisors utilized to redraw the maps for supervisorial districts. Zev Yaroslavsky, who arsenic a metropolis councilman and past a supervisor from the 1980s done 2000s, said the process had its “pluses and minuses.”

It could beryllium “ugly,” helium said, arsenic “people who marque the decisions person a precise profound, and affectional involvement successful it.” But decisions were besides being made by radical who knew and understood the implications of redrawing the lines. He noted that successful much caller years, lawmakers were mindful of moving afoul of the Voting Rights Act. Technology, helium said, has besides improved the process, and made it much transparent.

Going backmost respective decades earlier Yaroslavsky’s tenure, courts chronicled the county’s checkered past erstwhile it comes to “intentional discrimination.”

In 1990, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld U.S. District Court Judge David V. Kenyon’s ruling that that the County Board of Supervisors discriminated against Latinos erstwhile it drew territory lines successful 1981 successful East L.A. and the San Gabriel Valley.

The Latino assemblage “has sadly been denied an adjacent accidental to enactment successful the governmental process and to elite candidates of their prime to the Board of Supervisors for this burgeoning county,” Kenyon wrote successful his June 4, 1990 decision. The justice didn’t halt there. He went connected to chronicle akin gerrymandering successful 1959, 1965, 1971 and 1981.

The U.S. Supreme Court refused to perceive the county’s 1990 entreaty successful Yolanda Garza v. County of Los Angeles, forcing the committee to judge the county’s archetypal Latino-majority territory successful much than a period and paving the mode for Gloria Molina to triumph the 1st District spot successful a peculiar election.

HOW DID THIS COMMISSION COME TO BE?

Well, it astir didn’t. Then authorities Sen. Ricardo Lara’s SB 958 didn’t beryllium good with the region erstwhile it was introduced successful 2016.

Along with taking power of redistricting from the supervisors, it required the governmental enactment preferences of the commission’s members to beryllium “as proportional arsenic imaginable to the the full fig of voters who are registered with each governmental enactment successful the county.”

That contrasted with the citizens committee that sets authorities Assembly and Senate districts made up of 5 Democrats, 5 Republicans and 4 independents. The region sued, claiming the instrumentality unconstitutional, unfairly singled retired L.A. County, and injected partisanship into officially non-partisan section government. The region said it would permission the sheet without immoderate members who aren’t registered with a party.

But a Superior Court justice sided against the county, saying that the instrumentality “seeks to make an impartial autarkic commission” and doesn’t purpose to “impose a peculiar governmental viewpoint.”

HOW IS THE COMMISSION PICKED?

In September 2020, the region registrar narrowed 741 applications to the 60 astir qualified and sent them to the controller, who randomly selected 1 commissioner for each of the 5 districts. The controller selected different three. The 8 commissioners past selected different six.

The region hired Kraetsch Hartsough’s firm, KH Consulting Group, to tally the staff. The steadfast has has worked with respective nationalist assemblage agencies.

WHAT IS ITS POLITICAL MAKEUP?

Given the law’s accent connected proportionality, the committee is balanced toward Democrats: Seven Democrats, 3 Republicans and 4 who are either No Party Preference oregon affiliated with different governmental parties.

“I americium blessed to accidental that, though our Commission has a substance of Republicans, Democrats, and Independents and a diverseness of race, ethnicity, intersexual orientation, gender, and age, we person operated successful a collegial and constructive manner, with an knowing that our task is bigger than immoderate person, governmental party, oregon community,” said Commission Co-Chair Daniel M. Mayeda successful a written statement.

HOW CAN THEY BE INDEPENDENT — AND NOT POLITICAL?

Among experts there’s a consciousness that specified a assemblage can’t beryllium wholly apolitical.

“No substance who does it, it is simply a governmental process,” said Yaroslavsky, who successful 2000 and 2010 arsenic supervisor for the Third District drew the lines with his chap supervisors. “The question is who has the astir to summation from it.”

There are usually winners and losers, truthful the process tin beryllium contentious.

“It is not capable to propulsion powerfulness distant from legislatures,” said Douglas M. Spencer, subordinate prof of instrumentality astatine the University of Colorado, who manages the blog All About Redistricting. “The organization plan details of commissions are precise important and, successful general, the much institutionally independent, the much functional the process and just the outcomes.”

On the authorities level, Spencer lauded California, which helium said worked good successful the 2010 redistricting cycle, and the Colorado committee for its enactment during the existent predetermination cycle.

But not each autarkic commissions “are created equal,” helium said. In New York, for example, Spencer said fractional of the commissioners are appointed by authorities legislative leaders. In Virginia, fractional of the members are legislators themselves.

“The results person not been pretty,” helium said, noting the New York commission’s inability to hold connected a “compromise map” and the Virginia commission’s inability to hold connected a steadfast to make the map.

At the region level, experts hold that the process is inherently political, but perchance little truthful than during erstwhile cycles.

“I warrant you that the committee is good alert of wherever the incumbent lives, what their districts are,”  said Yaroslavsky. “There’s nary way… if you are not aware, you don’t beryllium connected the commissions due to the fact that you’re not sufficiently curious. How they usage that accusation connected a representation we’ll spot astatine the extremity of the day.

Still, a citizens committee could beryllium the amended path, immoderate experts say.

“The information that a committee has been calved is simply a bully thing,” said Jaime Regalado, prof emeritus of governmental subject astatine Cal State Los Angeles. “It does instrumentality it retired of the hands of politicians who similar to support their districts powerfully intact.”

It’s often much hard to knock section commissions for acting successful atrocious religion due to the fact that section issues don’t ever interruption down on partisan lines, Spencer said. Such decisions arsenic wherever to enactment nationalist transit, oregon whether to make a park, don’t ever interruption down on enactment lines.

ARE MEMBERS UNDER SCRUTINY?

Commission officials accidental are bracing for the disapproval that volition inevitably travel arsenic the representation choices constrictive to the last decision.

One cardinal prong of the process volition beryllium obtaining a consultant’s investigation of the radical breakdowns of the representation earlier its finalized,  Kraetsch Hartsough said, noting the request to enactment retired immoderate imaginable ineligible vulnerabilities connected the “front end” alternatively than backmost extremity of the process.

Commissioner Daniel M. Mayeda accidental that investigation volition beryllium the cardinal successful determining occurrence of the commission.

“I bash expect that immoderate representation we extremity up adopting volition gully disapproval from assorted sectors,” said Mayeda said successful a  written connection to this newspaper. “The County is large and complex, and our complaint is constricted to creating lone 5 districts, truthful determination volition beryllium nary mode to fulfill everyone. But, truthful agelong arsenic we’ve done our jobs properly, our last representation should beryllium viewed arsenic tenable and justified. ”

WHERE IS THE PROCESS NOW, AND WHAT’S NEXT?

The committee has held 12 nationalist hearings. The adjacent regular committee gathering is astatine 7 p.m. connected Wednesday, Oct. 13.

The extremity truthful far: Gather input astir imaginable “communities of interest,” defined arsenic a contiguous populations sharing societal and economical interests that should beryllium included wrong a azygous district.”

For instance, José Cornejo said he’d similar to spot the full San Fernando Valley arsenic its ain assemblage of interest.

“What I’m hoping for is that the Valley gets its ain district,” helium said. “We’ve ever been divided and divided up. Would beryllium bully alternatively than two, arsenic it ever has been divided.”

He pointed to a survey of 500 voters successful authorities Senate District 18 showing that the bulk successful the survey besides preferred “essentially having its ain supervisor.” As it is, Sheila Kuehl represents overmuch of the Valley but besides represents a robust information connected the westside of LA. And Kathryn Barger represents portions connected the northwest extremity of the Valley.

Elsewhere, 1 radical of residents asked that the committee not spot Long Beach successful aggregate supervisorial districts.  Another seeks to support unneurotic the “Gateway Cities” Santa Fe Springs, Whittier, Norwalk, Downey, Artesia and Cerritos.

The timetable ahead:

• This month, the committee volition proceed to reappraisal maps submitted by the nationalist and volition beryllium drafting up representation ideas based connected input from our nationalist hearings.
• In precocious October, the committee volition place respective representation options.
• In November,  the nationalist volition measurement successful connected the options. In December, the committee and its unit volition further refine options for further comment. On Dec. 15, the committee volition ballot connected the last map.

WHAT WILL SUCCESS LOOK LIKE?

Mayeda said the process volition beryllium a occurrence if the participants adhere to:

• Drawing and adopting a last representation of 5 caller supervisorial districts;
• Meeting the statutory deadline of Dec.15, 2021;
• Complying with each request specified arsenic timely hearings during which residents get ample input; and
• Engaging successful a transparent process wherever all  decisions tin beryllium viewed and reviewed by the public.

HOW DO I GET MORE INFORMATION ON THE PROCESS IN L.A. COUNTY?

Here’s how:

• For archetypal nationalist comments connected what communities privation to enactment unneurotic successful 1 supervisorial district, go here.
• To download escaped mapping bundle to taxable a map, go here.
• For a timeline for what’s happened truthful far, go here.
• For much accusation connected thestatewide citizens redistricign commission, go here
• For much accusation connected the commissioners, go here