Redistricting vote delayed several weeks

June Casagrande

City officials have postponed until May 27 a plan to consider two

scenarios for redrawing City Council districts.

In both scenarios, most of Corona del Mar remains in its present

district, except for Irvine Terrace, which becomes part of a

neighboring council district.

“No matter where you are in the city, your village designation

does not change, your ZIP code does not change. The only thing that

changes is the political boundary,” said Mayor Steve Bromberg, who

serves on the council’s subcommittee for redistricting.

The council districts need to be redrawn to balance out a lopsided

situation: John Heffernan’s District 7 added about 7,000 new

residents to the 9,500 already there after the city annexed Newport

Coast.

According to city guidelines, council districts must have roughly

the same number of people. To balance things out, the council will

consider two different scenarios drawn with the help of computers.

Originally, the council planned to consider the new districts at

Tuesday’s meeting, but decided to postpone it two weeks to give

residents a chance to review the proposed changes and weigh in.

“We want to give people the opportunity to know what’s being

considered,” Bromberg said. “A lot of people who don’t deal with the

city that often, new residents, might want to take a look as well.”

Some changes are likely no matter which scenario wins. District 7

will get smaller, probably by adding a portion of it to Dick Nichols’

District 6, which includes Corona del Mar, and also possibly by

adding a portion to Bromberg’s District 5. Bonita Canyon residents

will likely be removed from Bromberg’s district and become part of

Gary Adams’ District 4.

“This seems to be the best solution to a very difficult problem,”

Bromberg said.

* JUNE CASAGRANDE covers Newport Beach and John Wayne Airport. She

may be reached at (949) 574-4232 or by e-mail at

june.casagrande@latimes.com.