Why redistricting is such a hot topic in the leaked L.A. City Council audio

The downtown area around Crypto.com Arena and L.A. Live, shown here in 2018, has been a coveted asset when the Los Angeles City Council has drawn new district lines. The redistricting process has “long been about assets as well as demographics,” said Wendy Greuel, a former member of the council and a former city controller. When they’re trying to secure economic assets in their districts or their friends’ districts, they are trying to secure a glide path to more power, more influence and higher office for themselves and their friends.” Economist Christopher Thornberg, founder of Beacon Economics, said that with an asset like Crypto.com Arena, “you definitely get to play with the big boys; you’re dancing with AEG.” From a standpoint of political showmanship, he said, “there’s a real value to that.” As a council member, “you want big-pocketed people in your district,” Thornberg said, so when you say, “My charity over there really needs some help,” with a wink and a nudge, the wallets open. He mentioned the possibility of “civil or criminal” liability, but it’s not clear what that would mean for the new district map the council approved last year. Because the current lines are “tainted,” Feuer said, he thinks voters should be asked to approve two new line-drawing exercises: one next spring to use the county’s independent redistricting process to draw new lines temporarily, and one in the 2024 general election to create the city’s own independent commission and double the number of council districts, among other major changes.