Political Map Redrawn for Independent Valley

A revised plan for legislative districts in a potential San Fernando Valley city released Friday avoids splitting some communities and concentrates Latino voters.

The first change satisfied North Hills residents, but the second was not enough to avoid a probable legal challenge by the California Latino Redistricting Caucus.

Under the new maps, Warner Center would not be split between council districts and most of Sherman Oaks would be moved into a single district.

“That was probably the No. 1 issue discussed at the public hearing,” said Richard Close, who is president of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn. and chairman of the secession group Valley VOTE.

The plan also adjusted boundaries to eliminate an area of the Cahuenga Pass that has been claimed by Hollywood secessionists for their proposed city.

The new boundaries make only slight changes in the Latino populations of two districts.

Overall, the plan, like the original one released in November, creates five council districts in which Latinos would be the majority of the population and four districts in which they would be the most populous ethnic group. There would be 14 districts in all.

But Alan Clayton of the Latino Redistricting Caucus said the key test is voting power, or Latino voter registration in each district. The draft included majority Latino registration in three districts, while Clayton, who hasn’t yet reviewed the new plan, contends that four can be drawn.

“If the plan is basically the same, we will obviously challenge it,” Clayton said. A challenge would be filed with the U.S. Justice Department.

Clayton’s alternative proposal to boost Latino voting in some districts would have split the community of North Hills, where residents vigorously oppose his plan, according to a redistricting report prepared by demographics experts William A. V. Clark and Patrick D. Quinlan for the Local Agency Formation Commission, the agency with the power to place Valley cityhood before voters.

“The plan has maintained voting rights and preserved community boundaries to the extent possible,” the report states.

The new districts would average 96,500 people each but would vary in size geographically.

“The new districts map reveals a structure of districts that are geographically smaller in the more densely populated neighborhoods and communities in the eastern part of the San Fernando Valley, and are more geographically extensive in the western parts of the Valley, where single-family homes and lower densities predominate,” the report states.

LAFCO will consider the new map and plan at its meeting Wednesday.