$175,000 Allocated to Redraw Council Districts

The Los Angeles City Council agreed Tuesday to spend $175,000 to hire outside consultants and attorneys to help in the redrawing of boundaries of the city’s 15 council districts.

The council also approved a preliminary schedule outlining the major steps in the remapping process, which will begin next month and end by July 1.

Hiring the consultants, Bruce Cain and Pactech Data & Research, is the first step in the complex redistricting, which council members said will include substantial public input and take into consideration the voting strength of minorities.

Council members Hal Bernson, John Ferraro, Rita Walters, Richard Alatorre and Zev Yaroslavsky are members of the Ad Hoc Committee on Redistricting, which is to conduct the lion’s share of the remapping work. The committee is scheduled to hold public hearings from late January to mid-February.