There are numerous negative consequences of having our West Adams-Baldwin Hills-Crenshaw-Leimert Park community split into three jurisdictions – unincorporated County, L.A. City Council District 8/Bernard Parks and Council District 10/Herb Wesson.
They are well known to any person or group who has had to work through the bureaucracies to improve our communities.
If this were the South, we would be in the streets screaming that it is a racist attempt to segment the black vote and make it unnecessarily difficult to improve our communities.
But because it is South Los Angeles and there are political fiefdoms at stake in the drawing of the lines, too many have remained silent.
Or worse, they are out there playing to one or another elected/future candidate's benefit by talking about district lines as they exist/are proposed instead of community unity, the benefits of that unity and the adverse impacts of being segmented.
It is time to come together and say loudly, at least for the part of our community in the city:
We are one community – we belong together in one Council district.
The Empowerment Congress West Area Neighborhood Development Council is a certified city of Los Angeles neighborhood council serving the communities of Arlington Park, Baldwin Hills, Baldwin Village, Baldwin Vista, Cameo Plaza, Crenshaw Manor, Leimert Park and Village Green
Our Council’s position on City Council Redistricting:
We Are One Community. We Are One Neighborhood Council. We Belong in One Council District.
Every 10 years the people of Los Angeles have an opportunity to comment on the drawing of new City Council district boundaries. The Empowerment Congress West Area Neighborhood Development Council is currently divided into two Council districts, C.D.8/Bernard Parks and C.D.10/Herb Wesson, as illustrated below:
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At our Jan. 7 town hall meeting, we had a lengthy and healthy discussion about this issue, that included a Q&A session with a Redistricting Commission staffer.
The staffer helped explain the Commission's process and a term known as a “community of interest.” When asked, he also indicated that members of the public from across the city had been coming to the Commission hearings requesting that their neighborhood councils should not be divided among council districts. Lots of time at our town hall was focused on helping to define our broader community's historical boundaries.
At the end of our nearly hour-long discussion, which was a continuation of a public dialogue that had begun the meeting prior, our board unanimously adopted that we articulate to the Redistricting Commission:
1) Our council is one community, defined more broadly by the City Planning Dept. as a part of the West Adams-Baldwin Hills-Leimert Park area.
2) Our council is one neighborhood council, and our neighborhood council/the communities within it should be united in one united City Council district.
Read our full letter to the Commission is here: pdf
As is evident from the map above, not only is our broader community currently divided, the current Council district lines divide our local communities:
• Leimert Park is split down the middle of a residential street.
• Crenshaw Manor residents are placed in a different Council district than the Crenshaw Mall, which is across the street from their homes. Residents in Crenshaw Manor must also look across the street at blighted Marlton Square. Yet they have no ability to vote in an election for the person who is responsible for clean up and development at the site.
• Members of the Baldwin Village Gardens Homes Assn. are split down Rodeo.
• In Baldwin Village, the community is split down a residential street like Leimert Park.
• The famous Crenshaw/King intersection sits in two separate districts.
• North of King, one side of Crenshaw is C.D. 8, while the other is C.D.10.
We encourage all stakeholders to take note of this important process.
The Redistricting Commission website is http://redistricting2011.lacity.org You can email your comments to redistricting.lacity@lacity.org
The commission also has a public comment form that we encourage you to fill out: download here
A hearing of the Redistricting Commission in South L.A. is being planned for Saturday, Feb. 11. When the time and location are determined, we will be sure to make sure you're informed.
Meanwhile, our council next will host a Town Hall meeting on Saturday morning, Feb. 4, 9:30 to 11:30, Crenshaw United Methodist Church, 3740 Don Felipe Dr.
Mr. Goodmon, journalist-community organizer, may be contacted at : dg@ecwandc.org
The neighborhood council may be contacted at office@ecwandc.org
