In response to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s vetoing of two bills that would have required Los Angeles to create an independent redistricting commission, City Council President Paul Krekorian said on Monday, Oct. 9, that city governance should be up to the voters in the city.
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“As I have said all along, decisions about how to govern Los Angeles should be left to the voters of Los Angeles, not mandated by Sacramento,” Krekorian said in a statement. “The governor’s veto puts that question to rest with finality, and I am grateful to him for that.”
“But to be clear — with or without state legislation, this Council will continue to advance our proposal to scrap the current scandalously broken redistricting system entirely, and replace it with a truly independent commission that is shielded from any political influence whatsoever from the Council,” he added.
State Sen. María Elena Durazo, D-Los Angeles, introduced Senate Bill 52, which would have required cities with a population of at least 2.5 million people to establish an independent redistricting commission.
Los Angeles is the only city in California with at least 2.5 million people.
Assemblyman Isaac Bryan, D-Los Angeles, authored another bill that would have required large cities, counties and school districts to adopt independent redistricting commissions by 2030. The two bills were designed to work together, and have provisions to ensure that they do not overlap.
Under the current system, city council districts are drawn up by a panel whose members are appointed by the council, which then has the final say on those boundaries.
Council leaders are trying to change that by placing a more independent plan before voters. A City Council group has called for the creation of two independent redistricting commissions to draw boundaries for the City Council and the Los Angeles Unified School District.
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