Leimert Park and Baldwin Hills seems to be caught in a struggle between the new City Council President Herb  and Councilman Bernard Park.

The Redistricting Commission released a draft of the new Los Angeles City Council districts boundaries, moving more of Leimert Park Village from the 8th to the 10th district. At 11 a.m.  Saturday, Feb. 11, the Commission will hold a public hearing at West Angeles Church, 3045 Crenshaw Blvd. Be there. Be heard.

Wesson seems to have all the cards, lots of backing in the area and in city hall, as Councilman Bernard Parks enters his final years on the city council. He is in the second year of this third term and is termed out.

Wesson, who was elected council president by his fellow councilmembers, also took away Parks' committee chair of the powerful Budget Committee. The tiff seems to have been brewing for a while unfortunately.

Wesson already has a presence in our area, as he represents north Leimert Park and west West Adams (Parks has a better map). This possibility was raised at a Cherrywood Leimert Park last year, and many in the audience cheered the idea. But there are many Parks supporters in the area as well. It seems that some of the economic development plans that Parks was pursuing were finally being accomplished (before the redevelopment debacle anyway).

The map that was released Friday shows that District 10 would now encompass most of Leimert Park and all of West Adams. But the new boundaries would leave Baldwin Hills with Councilman Parks. It seems like a bit of a gerrymander, but perhaps it's better for a defined neighborhood to stay with one councilman.

The Empowerment Congress West Area Neighborhood Council stressed all the areas should be under one district.
Parks sent out an email to residents: "The most egregious examples of this disregard for the public’s wishes and the Charter requirements are:

- Splitting up the historic Leimert Park neighborhood so that only the businesses and park remain in the Eighth District, while all the residences go to the Tenth district.
- Splitting Baldwin Vista from the rest of Baldwin Hills and placing it in the Tenth District."LA Observed has a very good overview of the politics and the arguments - from city hall observers from all over Los Angeles.