Should we have more city council members in Los Angeles? What about an independent commission to decide where district boundaries are? How would all this work if we did do it?
These are some of the early questions a special city council committee is trying to figure out. And one of our readers, Valerie Morishige, an L.A. community advocate, wants to get people more civically engaged in the process. She asked LAist:
How can people get involved in the city’s redistricting and council expansion discussion and public hearings happening right now? What orgs and coalitions can regular folks join to have a say in how our city will be drawing the lines?
“Right now your city council member represents 265,000 people,” said Morishige. “Who do you think they listen to right now? It’s definitely not us everyday folks.”
“Unless people get involved now and really hear the process and are able to get their two cents in, no one’s gonna trust anything that the city puts on the ballot.”
A public tour is underway
Well, as it happens, the City Council’s governance reform ad hoc committee — a body that’s helming more interesting work than its name implies — is doing a public tour around L..A. right now to get people’s thoughts.
Here’s how you can get more involved in what happens next.
Why the tour is happening
We’re here because of last year’s scandal when city council members were recorded using racist language and trying to carve out neighborhoods in their favor.
Even before the tape was publicized, the redrawing of these lines had worried some neighborhood residents, concerned they may be…
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