With an independent commission in charge, the 2021 redistricting process was supposed to be free of political bias. But that did not entirely happen, as consultants, lobbyists and councilmembers sought to influence the months-long deliberations that defined political boundaries for the next decade.
The district now runs stretches across the city, touching both the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers and the geographic shift displaced all declared candidates from the district they intended to run for.
The Independent Redistricting Commission has finished drawing a map that will govern City Council races for the next 10 years. Here’s what could come next.
Barring any dramatic changes, which would require a new meeting, Councilwomen Cindy Allen and Stacy Mungo Flanigan are poised to be drawn out of their districts.
The map that advanced would merge a portion of East Long Beach with the California Heights, Bixby Knolls and Los Cerritos Neighborhoods west of Long Beach Airport while thrusting all of E Dorado Park and its neighboring homes into the present day 4th District.
Multiple members of the Latino community argued that putting all of the Westside into one district would water down Latino’s voting power because it would consolidate them into one large area mostly west of the 710 Freeway.
The commission was scheduled to approve up to three draft maps Wednesday, but only the one will be available leading up to that meeting after a contentious meeting at City Hall Wednesday.
You still have time to weigh in on how district lines should be redrawn for LBUSD school board members.
Here’s what happens in terms of elections, eligibility to run, and, perhaps most importantly for residents, representation on the council as the redistricting process unfolds.
Initial maps of possible new council district boundaries show some of the current elected leaders could be ineligible to run in their districts—a change that could dramatically alter the political landscape in the city.
