The various plans and proposals that Los Angeles County has floated during their redistricting process has made sure that everyone from every background has skin in the game. A new, second, Latino-majority district could drastically alter the make-up of the Board of Supervisors.
In fact, the demand to witness the proceeding was sufficient to require multiple overflow rooms inside the building and even seating outside on the lawn.
But after all the speakers, the Board voted 4-1 to approve a redistricting plan that largely represents the status quo. Now, the County will prepare for the legal challenges that will surely come, as the Board put aside a plan that would have established a second, Latino-majority district.
From the Los Angeles Times:
After hearing hours of emotional testimony from hundreds of speakers, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a redistricting map late Tuesday largely preserving the status quo, protecting incumbents and rejecting demands from Supervisor Gloria Molina and Latino activists that the board draw a second Latino district.
In the end, Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, who had been an ally of Molina, changed his vote from supporting a second Latino district to supporting Supervisor Don Knabe’s plan largely preserving the existing districts.
Ridley-Thomas had been a staunch advocate for redrawing political lines to add a second Latino-majority district, but said he didn’t want to have the board deadlock and hand over the decision to a trio of other countywide elected officials – Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley, Sheriff Lee Baca and Assessor John Noguez.
Read the full article here.