Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council Needs Your Help at Wednesday Redistricting Meeting

Last week, the city concluded its first round of public hearings in its ongoing city council redistricting process.  The redistricting commission will now begin drafting maps of the proposed new council districts.  But before the maps are issued, various interest groups that have pre-registered for the privilege will have the opportunity to make presentations to the commission regarding their specific redistricting requests.  

Several local groups have registered for this privilege, including the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council.  The GWNC’s presentation will request that the entirety of the historic Greater Wilshire area, which is now split among city council districts 4, 5 and 10, be united within a single district.  To show community support for this position, the GWNC is asking that all available stakeholders attend the meeting.  

The meeting begins at 4:00 p.m., Wednesday, January 18 in Room 340 (City Council Chambers) at City Hall.  As with all such issues, the community’s physical presence at the gathering is very important — the more people that turn out, the stronger the message to city officials.  

Greater Wilshire is a community of great local significance – in its history, diversity, and civic resources – and it’s important to make sure commission members understand who we are and how the interests of our various neighborhoods are tightly interwoven. (For example, we have several adjoining Historic Preservation Zones, which share both concerns and internal governance.)

The GWNC’s request is also far from unique – many other self-defined communities, including other neighborhood council areas around the city – are making similar requests in the current redistricting process.  The goal is to create city council boundaries that truly represent specific communities of interest, and which are planned and defined from the grass roots up, by the stakeholders who are most directly affected.

If you would like to see the Greater Wilshire area united within a single council district, please join us and show your support at Wednesday’s meeting!