Have Strong Views About LA's New Redistricting Map? Don't Miss The Last Scheduled Public Hearing

It all comes down to this.

The new draft map that carves out Los Angeles City Council districts is slated to be voted on by the council on Dec. 1.

It’ll affect representation in the city for the next decade, which is why local officials are so keen for the public to be involved.

If you have any strong feelings about it, there’s one last scheduled public hearing tomorrow, Tuesday, Nov. 23 at noon, where you can share your thoughts.

Here’s an expandable view of the draft map:

It's the culmination of a long undertaking that started with the 2020 Census (the results of which were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

The goal: suggest how to fairly divide up the city into 15 districts of roughly 260,000 people each. 

An advisory redistricting commission made up of city hall appointees held virtual meetings where Angelenos told them about their “communities of interest” and what they’d like to see in the next map.

In late October, the commission completed its part of the process and passed its own suggested map, called “K2.5 Final,” along to the city council.

Then, an ad hoc city council committee considered the commission’s recommendations, and put forward a modified version of it.

Points Of Tension

The council’s current draft map addresses some issues highlighted by advocates.

One that's likely to come up in the public hearing: which district or districts should get South L.A.’s big economic assets, like USC and the museums and stadiums in Exposition Park?

We asked residents of both CD 8 and 9 about why these landmarks mean so much to them, which you can read and listen to here.

The draft map also unites Koreatown into one council district, CD 10, something residents had been asking for since the community was split up into multiple districts last time around. 

But it still redraws CD 4, currently represented by Nithya Raman, in a way that she says will cause her to lose 40% of her current constituents in the new year. 

You can check out the full agenda and dial-in details for the hearing on the city council website.