Residents Ask Redistricting Commission to Unify Hollywood

More than 165 people showed up at Friendship Auditorium in Los Feliz Wednesday to express their concerns about the redistricting of Council District 4.

Councilman Tom LaBonge and commissioners from the Los Angeles City Council Redistricting Commission sat through hours of testimony in which people from Hollywood as well as other areas, including Encino, the San Fernando Valley, Hancock Park, and Koreatown voiced their opinions about the planned redistricting.

The city's charter requires the city be redistricted at least once every 10 years. The process impacts how communities throughout Los Angeles get representation on the City Council. The commission is holding public hearings before a proposal is drafted, which is expected to occur at the end of this month.

Most of the speakers at Wednesday's hearing had ties to the Armenian community or were connected to Koreatown. About a half-dozen were Hollywood residents who spoke about uniting Hollywood under one council district. 

Hollywood resident Joyce Dyrector was among those speakers.

“It’s very difficult to deal with development or other things going on a block away from you if you’re in a different council district,” Dyrector said. “I really would appreciate it if you would really look at it and keep Hollywood together under one council district. It would make it so much easier for neighbors to deal with development and everything going on in Hollywood.”

Valorie Keegan, a Hollywood resident, pointed out that having several council districts represented in Hollywood, including Council Districts 4, 5 and 13, is causing conflicts between area businesses and the surrounding neighborhoods. She said these could be avoided if the commission would “possibly bring back Hollywood together.”

Wayne Johansson, a resident of Hollywood Heights, offered a possible solution.

“We have neighborhood council districts, which combine communities together,” he said. “Perhaps that would be a good starting basis for creating our city council districts and keeping our communities together.”

Sarajane Schwartz, president of the Hollywoodland Homeowners Association, offered a brief history of Hollywoodland before making her appeal that Hollywoodland “not be divided from the Hollywood sign” but remain in the same district. She also had other concerns.

“We would like to remain with other R1 foothill communities,” Schwartz said referring to the R1 designation that identifies single-family residences. “We feel we share a lot of specific problems and issues, and it’s very helpful for us to remain together.”

In addition, repeated pleas to make Koreatown one council district were echoed throughout the evening. Supporters of this idea say it would unite their community and keep it from being fragmented as well as perhaps cut down on crime in the area.

The same idea was broached by many members of the Armenian community who spoke of their concerns to make sure their community is a cohesive one.

Commissioners urged the public to submit their own maps of how they would like to see the district look. Caitlin Flint, representing the Advancement Project, pointed residents to ReDrawLA in order to be able to view district maps or draw maps for their own communities of interest. Training on how to draw district maps will be offered from Jan. 7 to Jan. 13 at City Hall. Maps may also be submitted online, and more information can be found at redistricting2011.lacity.org.  

Wednesday’s hearing was the 11th public hearing held on redistricting. Four more are scheduled, including another, Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium of Fairfax High School at 7850 Melrose Ave.

A total of 21 commissioners make up the Los Angeles City Council Redistricting Commission.