Speakers Urge Latino-Majority District

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors' public hearing on proposed redistricting changes that will affect Manhattan Beach residents, among others, lasted more than four hours Tuesday and featured dozens of speakers who spoke glowingly of 4th District Supervisor Don Knabe, while others warned of lawsuits if a second Latino-majority district is not created.

The hearing centered on a proposal brought forth by the county's Boundary Review Committee (BRC) that was tasked in November 2010 with drawing new lines to reflect the population changes of the 2010 Census.

The 2010 Census found that the county's population grew by 300,000 people to 9.8 million, and ideally the five county supervisorial districts would have 1.96 million residents in each district, said Curt Pedersen, chairman of the Boundary Review Committee. The county is the most populous in the country and has a larger population than 42 individual states in the nation.

The committee narrowed down its options to two maps and presented the option now known as A-2 to the board for its consideration. The plan largely retains the status quo and moves 150,121 residents into different districts.

An alternative map devised by black and Hispanic interest groups, called S-1, would move 3.4 million residents into different districts and create two Latino-majority districts.

The 10-member BRC, which consisted of two representatives appointed by each supervisor, voted 6 to 4 to recommend the status quo map over the plan calling for a second Latino-majority district. The BRC representatives for supervisors Knabe, Zev Yaroslavsky and Michael D. Antonovich voted to support the status quo alignment, while the committee members appointed by Latina representative Gloria Molina and Mark Ridley-Thomas, who is black, voted for the alternative map.

Justin Levitt, redistricting expert and a law professor at Loyola Law School, warned the supervisors during a 15-minute presentation that they risked legal action if they did not create two districts in which Latino voters would have the opportunity to elect candidates.

Latinos now comprise 48 percent of the county's population and Levitt warned about "packing" them into just one district.

"There's a very real concern here about meeting the obligations of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965," Levitt said.

He noted that the county was sued after its 1980 redistricting due to gerrymandered boundaries that diluted the Latino vote. A federal district court judge in that case (Garza v. County of Los Angeles) found that the county had engaged in intentional discrimination in redistrictings in 1959, 1965 and 1971.

Molina in February 1991 became the first Latina ever elected to the Board of Supervisors, thanks in large part to the Garza decision.

Knabe's 4th District would be dramatically altered under the S-1 option and would become a new Latino-majority district that moves away from the coast and toward the eastern San Gabriel Valley. Yaroslavsky also would see his 3rd District altered, losing the eastern portion of the San Fernando Valley to Molina's central district, while picking up the southwestern portion of Knabe's district along the Santa Monica Bay to the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

Knabe introduced an amendment to the A-2 option that called for moving Silver Lake into Molina's 1st District; uniting Playa del Rey and unincorporated West Whittier into his 4th District; uniting unincorporated Florence/Firestone into Ridley-Thomas' 2nd District and balancing district populations by moving Claremont into the 1st District and by reversing A-2's plans for shifting West Hills.

Knabe's supporters came out in droves to urge the board to keep him in his present district. Current and past elected officials from Manhattan Beach, Cerritos (Knabe's hometown), Avalon, Rolling Hills Estates, Norwalk, Palos Verdes Estates and El Segundo shared stories about how he knew their residents, their interests and has stepped up to help solve problems.

The lone elected dissenters were state Assemblyman Tony Mendoza, who represents Cerritos, Buena Park and others areas in the 56th Assembly District, and Cudahy Mayor Josue Barrios.

"The status quo plan, A-2, does not do anything for San Gabriel Valley cities because the coastal part of the district continues to dominate elections and therefore representation," Mendoza said.

Barrios also said that Latinos need more fair representation.

"We are not here to protect incumbents," Barrios said. "We are here to protect the residents of the community."

A combat veteran who gave Knabe credit for helping him find work, a Spanish-speaking woman from Wilmington and representatives from interest groups that included Cambodians and Native Americans also stood up for Knabe.

"I think today is celebrate Supervisor Don Knabe day," one speaker said.

The good vibes wore off during the second half of the public hearing when supporters of the S-1 option addressed the board.

Tunua Thrash, a member of the African-American Redistricting Collaborative, reminded the board that it drew on numerous communities of interest to draw up the S-1 map.

"Today's conversation should not be celebrating localization efforts and e-mail blasts. Redistricting is not about intimidation, rather it is an act that promotes accountability," Thrash said. "I urge you to be accountable to all Angelenos by voting for S-1, a map that provides real opportunity for real people."

She also urged the board to avoid the appearance of "incumbent protection."

Mark Rosenbaum, chief counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, reminded the board that he litigated the Garza case 20 years ago and warned of unintentional discrimination in the redistricting process.

"I hope that this community will spare a repeat of the divisiveness that resulted the last time around," Rosenbaum said. "The testimony that I've heard so far this afternoon on behalf of keeping the status quo is a carbon copy of what I heard 20 years ago. The promise of redistricting is the promise of the American dream, that our democracy was constructed to grow and become more inclusive."

The board voted unanimously to continue the public hearing on A-2 on Sept. 6 at 1 p.m. and will hold a second public hearing in which other maps could be considered Sept. 27. The board set a deadline of Aug. 16 at 5 p.m. for a supervisor to submit another map for consideration.