Redistricting Task Force Takes Shape

[UPDATED] Former Mayor Terry Tornek and former District 2 City Councilmember Margaret McAustin have been nominated to the city’s Redistricting Task Force.

Tornek, who served two terms as the council’s District 7 representative before being elected mayor in 2015, McAustin and the remainder of the task force will make recommendations to the City Council on redrawing City Council districts based on demographic shifts revealed by the 2020 Census.

Tornek, who was replaced in the mayor’s seat by sitting Mayor Victor Gordo, was nominated by District 3 Councilmember John Kennedy.

Williams, who won the District 2 seat in the November election, replaced McAustin, who chose to not run for another term.

Others being tapped for the redistricting panel are: David Coher, Donald C. Nanney, Jordan Vannini, Richard McDonald, Francis Chen, Vince Farhat and at-large nomination Rita Moreno,

Farhat will serve as the chair and Moreno will serve as vice chair.

The citizen-based task force will examine census data for changes in populations in the city’s seven districts and recommend a redistricting plan to the council.

In 2012, the City Council voted 6-1 to shift the districts slightly, resulting in the exchange of about 1,392 people from one district to another.

In the early 1990s, redrawing those lines put Gordo on the road to the mayor’s gavel after the council created a new district — which is now District 5 — in an effort to create more voting opportunities for growing numbers of Latino residents in that area of the city.

That seat was won by Bill Crowfoot, now a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge, with Gordo serving as his field representative. Gordo, who won that seat after Crowfoot declined to run for a third term, became the third elected mayor in modern history in the November election.

The redistricting plan must be submitted by Dec. 15. The council must hold at least four public hearings before approving the revised map.

At 7 p.m. Thursday, the League of Women Voters will hold a Day of Action regarding redistricting.

“It is imperative that the entire population or the community come out and really tell our redistricting body what their community of interest is,” said Martha Zavala of the League of Women Voters.