KNABE: Three redistricting plans to be debated on Tuesday on Supervisor political map battle

Supervisor Don Knabe.  Randy Economy Photo

By Randy Economy

www.loscerritosnews.net

Los Angeles
The politically hot summer debate over the future of redistricting of five Supervisorial districts here in Los Angeles County is expected to boil over next Tuesday as three proposed political maps  will be picked apart during a public hearing that could last long into the expected sweltering afternoon heat.
In play are three proposed plans that could affect who will be elected to the most powerful county governing board in America during the next 10 years, also known as the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. 
Several local community leaders, elected officials and civic and business groups are expected to attend the hearing that will focus on three plans.
A new idea being pushed by Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina, known as the “T-1 Plan” would essentially create two Supervisorial Districts that would have a majority Latino voting registration edge. If eventually approved by four of the five elected Supervisors, it would reassign 3,590,455 people among the five districts. Supervisor Molina introduced her plan on August 16, and would reassign 1,023 redistricting units which make up 134 whole or partial communities.
Plan “S-2” being backed by Supervisor Mark Ridley Thomas would reassign 3,375,553 people among the five districts, and is being pushed by several African American community groups and community activists including Jackie DuPont-Walker, Tunua Thrash and Marqueece Haris-Dawson all of Los Angeles. 


Ridley-Thomas and Knabe at last months Re Map Hearing. Randy Economy pic

Plan “A-3” that has the support of Supervisor Don Knabe of Cerritos would be the less aggressive shift in voters, and would only shift 277,283 people among the five districts.  During the past two public hearings before the Board of Supervisors during the past few months, hundreds of locally elected officials and community based organizations have spoke in favor of the “Knabe Plan” and many of them are expected to attend next Tuesday’s meeting at the Hall of Administration.

MOLINA:  Barking up what tree?

Knabe told the Los Cerritos Community News in an interview on Wednesday that “at this particular point not a lot going on behind the scenes” other than lots of “political posturing.”  Knabe, a former Cerritos City Councilman and Mayor said that he has always represented his “entire district” regardless of one’s ethnic race or political philosophy.
“I am proud of the service my office and staff provides to all communities in the Fourth District,” Knabe said. 
He called Molina’s planned “T-1 District” “totally ridiculous.  It is beyond crazy.”
“Our plan meets all the requirements of the Voting Rights Act, and Supervisor Molina’s S-1 Plan does not and the other plan backed by Supervisor Ridley-Thomas if approved would be at the expense of the county’s growing Asian community,” Knabe said.
“This redistricting plan is not about me, it has always been about fairness,” he said.  Knabe, who is up for reelection in 2012 said that if the Board of Supervisors can “get over this hump, it will work.”
Knabe was also critical of groups and elected officials who are trying to “create a racial divide in the County of Los Angeles” by putting one “political agenda before solid public service.”
The hearing next Tuesday is slated to begin at around 1 p.m., and the public is encouraged to attend.
The Board of Supervisors Hearing Room is located on West Temple Street across from Our Lady of Angels Catholic Cathedral in Downtown Los Angeles.
“Expect a long afternoon of emotional testimony on all sides,” Knabe said.