Redistricting: Redistricting Commission to Hold Public Hearings Across the City to Discuss Draft City Council District Map

As you no doubt are aware by now, last week the Los Angeles City Council Redistricting Commission finally released its first draft map of the proposed new City Council District boundaries. The Commission developed the first draft map after holding 15 public hearings across the City that were ostensibly designed to gather community input on the proposed Council district boundaries.

The Commission’s draft map was -- unsurprisingly -- greeted with a hail of criticism, with residents of several communities (and a number of City Councilmembers) expressing concerns with the Redistricting Commission’s proposed district boundaries. Below are some links to just a few of the many stories that have been written this week on City’s redistricting process and the Commission’s proposed boundaries: 

• Redistricting proposal hits hard: 9th District to become poorest in LA – Blogdowntown
• Draft Proposal Keeps Hollywood Within 3 City Council Districts - Hollywood Patch
• Confusion is word of the day in L.A. City Council remapping - LA Daily News
• Angelenos quick to blast proposed council districts – LA Times
• Proposed Koreatown redistricting debated – LA Times
• Residents balk at L.A. Council District 4's proposed new shape - LA Times
• The Five Most Furious Reactions to the Redistricting of Los Angeles – LA Weekly
• A Grassroots Call for Honest City Council Districts – Ron Kaye LA
• Race, Ethnicity, Class and Hipness -- How (NOT) to Draw City Council Districts – Ron Kaye LA
• Council District Maps, Council District Problems - Street Hassle
• Perry: New District Lines “Flat Out Politics” - The City Maven
• Redistricting the Council: The Pieces Don't Add Up to a Plan – KCET SoCal Focus
• The Political Blood Sport Known as Redistricting Comes to L.A. – KCET 1st and Spring

Starting tomorrow, Wednesday, February 1st, the general public will again have the opportunity to give the Redistricting Commission its input on the proposed Council district boundaries. The Redistricting Commission has scheduled a series of seven public hearings across the City to gather public input on their recently released draft map. The schedule for the seven public hearings is show below and the flyer can be found here (.pdf).

If you are interested in where the final lines will be drawn, this set of meetings likely your last chance to (publicly) participate in the process. Following this last set of public hearings, the Redistricting Commission will make its final revisions to the proposed City Council District map, hold a final vote, and submit its selected redistricting plan to the City Council for its consideration by no later than March 1, 2012. Recall, however, that the City Council is not required to adopt the plan developed by the Redistricting Commission and it has the authority to amend and modify the Redistricting Commission's plan as it seems fit.