City District Maps OK'd: 'N. Highland Park' Remains in CD 14

After four hours of contentious testimony and debate, the Los Angeles City Council Friday approved a map with new boundaries for the 15 council districts.

This includes a Council District 13 that retains the Friday Echo Park Farmer's Market.

Through the approved maps, the northern portion of Highland Park--including the economically resurgent portion York Boulevard near Avenue 50--will remain in Council District 14.

Previously proposed maps had moved that portion of the neighborhood into Council District 1.

The new maps also mean the further fracturing of Glassell Park. Previously split between Council District's 1 and 13, the approved maps add Council District 14 to the mix of council districts with jurisdiction over the community.

The 13-2 vote gives the city attorney authority to draft an ordinance that would legally establish the new districts until after the next census in 2020.

Hundreds of people packed City Hall to give input on the new districts. The vast majority were opponents of changes to two South Los Angeles council districts, 8 and 9, represented by Bernard Parks and Jan Perry.

The approved map removes the lion's share of downtown from Perry's district and moves the University of Southern California out of Parks' district.

Opponents argued the new boundaries would further impoverish two of the poorest districts in the city, leaving the districts without economic engines.

"Now I have a district where the average income is $16,000 to $24,000 a year, because now there is no middle class connected to the 9th District,'' Perry said after the vote.

During a rare personal address between Council members on the floor of the council chamber, Perry publicly apologized to Council President Herb Wesson, saying she wished she could take back "blunt'' statements she made to him during a discussion last year about his election to the Council presidency.

"If I had known then what I know now, I would have kept my mouth shut so that my district would not have been sacrificed,'' Perry said. "I feel your wrath. I feel your power. I'm the only woman on the City Council now. I'm one woman out of 14 men. This is a lesson in the wise use of power."

She added: "And I want to tell you publicly, Mr. President, I regret not voting for you, and I am sorry. And I think as a woman, I'm completely comfortable saying that, because I'm fighting for something bigger than the both of us.''

"It is not punishment,'' Wesson responded, denying that he orchestrated the redistricting process. "To suggest that one person, me, could influence a 21-member commission and a 15-member council, in my view is kind of insulting to these ... independent thinkers.''

Perry said, however, she plans to file a lawsuit to block the new maps from being put into effect.

The Council voted down a motion by Parks and Perry to delay a final vote on the maps. There was no immediate word about whether Parks and Perry would proceed with a lawsuit against the City Council for approving maps that the two Council members say are illegal.