Charter Amendment DD: Create an independent redistricting commission for the City of LA

Originally published Oct. 9, 2024

Los Angeles City voters will have the chance on Nov. 5 to create an independent commission to redraw voting districts. Here’s why that matters, and why it has the potential to shake up power at City Hall:

In the past, the L.A. City Council would draw the political boundaries, so council members drew their own districts — usually to keep themselves in power.

But calls for an independent commission gained momentum in 2022 after secretly recorded audio captured three sitting council members discussing ways to preserve their political power through the redistricting process.

If approved by voters, a 16-member panel would be responsible for redrawing district boundaries every 10 years to reflect population changes in the city. The panel would act without the involvement or approval of the City Council. Elected officials, commissioners and lobbyists would be among those prohibited from serving.

Official title on the ballot: Independent Redistricting Commission For The City Of Los Angeles. Charter Amendment DD

You are being asked:

Shall the City Charter be amended to establish an independent redistricting commission to redraw Council district lines every ten years in the City of Los Angeles?

WHAT YOUR VOTE MEANS

A “yes” vote means: You want the city to replace its existing advisory redistricting commission with an independent body that has the power to adopt district boundaries every 10 years without the involvement or approval of the City Council.
A “no” vote means: The city would stick with its existing advisory redistricting commission. Councilmembers would continue to determine boundaries.

Understanding the city’s redistricting process

Redistricting happens every 10 years after the federal government completes its census population counts. State and local governments use that data to redraw district lines that reflect current demographics.

In L.A., commissioners are selected by elected city officials, including council members whose districts are to be redrawn. Advocates say this could lead to corruption, since commissioners may be lobbied and replaced at will by the very people who appointed them.

The history behind it

It’s been more than two decades since the rules for drawing voting boundaries in L.A. were last revised. Councilmembers Nithya Raman and Paul Krekorian introduced a proposal for an independent commission in 2021. It was voted on in 2022 and passed.

After the audio leak scandal, members of the Ad Hoc Committee on Governance Reform created a new roadmap for an independent commission.

But creating a new, independent panel requires voter approval since it involves amending the city charter.

How it would work

The proposed amendment would establish a new independent redistricting commission composed of 16 members and four alternates who will serve 10-year terms. After completing their service, commissioners will be ineligible to run for any council district seat whose boundaries they helped draw.

It’s a two-step random selection process. Applicants who are 18 and over are screened before their names are entered into a lottery. The city clerk’s office would then randomly select eight people from that pool.

Selected applicants would be responsible for appointing the rest of the commission from that same pool to ensure that the rest of the commissioners reflect the diversity of the city. They are supposed to consider race, gender, age, income and other factors.

People who were city employees or members of another city commission in the two years before applying are not eligible to serve on the commission. The same goes for people who have either engaged in prior political or lobbying activities on redistricting, or if they have a spouse or family member who has done so.

What people who support it say

Advocates from the group California Common Cause say it is “imperative” for the city to establish a commission that is “truly independent and worthy of the public’s trust.”

They point out that independent redistricting commissions are already in place at the state level for Congressional and state legislature districts, and in L.A. County for supervisorial districts. The city of Long Beach also uses an independent redistricting commission.

What people who oppose it say

Groups that opposed similar legislation in California have argued that elected officials are in the best position to draw district boundaries because they have more experience and know how these processes work.

Potential financial impact

The city has not yet released a financial summary of the amendment. Russia Chavis Cardenas of Common Cause said costs are likely to be “marginal” because the city already has a redistricting process in place.

“We’re not taking on a new task,” she said. “We’re required by federal law to do this every 10 years. We’re just going to be doing it in a different way.”