With almost no media coverage, major decisions about the future of Los Angeles are being made. Like every other level of government that has district elections, the LA City Council’s 15 districts are being re-drawn literally as we speak.

For many decades, this process of City Council Redistricting was done directly by the City Council itself. The opportunity for manipulation of the process was evident. Gerrymandering to protect incumbents or eliminate rivals was the standard operating procedure.

To reduce the political manipulation of the state’s District drawing process, California voters passed an initiative in 2008 requiring the state of California to have a truly independent commission, to draw the lines for the state legislature and congressional districts.