Los Angeles City Council District 8
Encyclopedia
Los Angeles City Council District 8 is one of the 15 districts of the Los Angeles City Council
, covering much of South Los Angeles
. The current council member is Bernard C. Parks
.
| |}>
See official city map outlining District 8.
for a nine-member council with a district system with a 15-member council. Each district was to be approximately equal in population, based upon the voting in the previous gubernatorial election; thus redistricting was done every four years. (At present, redistricting is done every ten years, based upon the preceding U.S. census results.) The numbering system established in 1925 for City Council districts began with No. 1 in the north of the city, the San Fernando Valley
, and ended with No. 15 in the south, the Harbor area.
As the city's population expanded to the west, the 8th District's boundaries gradually shifted that way as well. Areas covered over the years have been:
1925: South of Washington Street
, north of Jefferson on the western side and north of Slauson Avenue
on the eastern side, bounded on the east by Alameda Street and the Vernon
city line.
1926: Bounded by 47th Street, Vermont Avenue
, Florence Avenue
and Alameda Street.
1928: Same as before, with the addition of an area bounded by Central Avenue, Manchester Avenue, Vermont Avenue
and Florence Avenue
.
1929: "Extreme southwest."
1932: ". . . due to the exceptional growth of the western part of the city, a general movement toward the ocean was necessary." East boundary: Central Avenue. North: Vernon Avenue. West: Vermont Avenue
. South: Century Boulevard
.
1935: Roughly the same as in 1932.
1937: North: 45th Street or 48th Street. East: Alameda Street. South: Manchester Avenue. West: Vermont Avenue
.
1940: "The general trend is westward and northeastward, due to heavy construction in the San Fernando Valley
and the beach areas."
In 1940, the 8th District was bounded on the north by Vernon Avenue, on the west by Western Avenue
, on the east by the city limits or Alameda Street and on the south by about Slauson Avenue
.
1955: ". . . bordering on Huntington Park
and Vernon
, from Vernon Avenue to 94th Street. . . . A considerable percentage of the population is Negro; they hold that their race should have some representation in the City Council. On the other hand, left-wing Democrats, following the banner of Rep. Jimmy Roosevelt
, also have a candidate in the race, which may split the Negro vote."
1964: Enlarged by absorbing two-thirds of the old 12th District, which was moved to the San Fernando Valley because of the growth of population there.
1971. Runs "from Adams Blvd. through the south central city
to around Century Blvd.
and includes parts of Watts.
1975: "The district runs in a north-south line in South-Central Los Angeles, from Adams and Jefferson Blvds. on the north, to Normandie and Central Avenue on the west, 118th St. on the south, and Arlington and Van Ness on the west. . . . [It] suffers some of the worst crime, unemployment and housing problems in the city."
1992: Line shifted west to include the Santa Barbara Plaza
on Crenshaw Boulevard, as well as Baldwin Hills.
Los Angeles City Council
The Los Angeles City Council is the governing body of the City of Los Angeles.The Council is composed of fifteen members elected from single-member districts for four-year terms. The president of the council and the president pro tempore are chosen by the Council at the first regular meeting after...
, covering much of South Los Angeles
South Los Angeles
South Los Angeles, often abbreviated as South L.A. and formerly South Central Los Angeles, is the official name for a large geographic and cultural portion lying to the southwest and southeast of downtown Los Angeles, California. The area was formerly called South Central, and is still widely known...
. The current council member is Bernard C. Parks
Bernard C. Parks
Bernard C. Parks is an American politician. He is a member of the Los Angeles City Council, representing the 8th District in South Los Angeles. He served as chief of the Los Angeles Police Department from August 1997 to May 2002...
.
Modern
The 8th District includes the neighborhoods of Baldwin Hills, Chesterfield Square, Crenshaw, Leimert Park, Jefferson Park, West Adams and other areas of South Los Angeles.See official city map outlining District 8.
Historic
A new city charter effective in 1925 replaced the former "at large" voting systemPlurality-at-large voting
Plurality-at-large voting is a non-proportional voting system for electing several representatives from a single multimember electoral district using a series of check boxes and tallying votes similar to a plurality election...
for a nine-member council with a district system with a 15-member council. Each district was to be approximately equal in population, based upon the voting in the previous gubernatorial election; thus redistricting was done every four years. (At present, redistricting is done every ten years, based upon the preceding U.S. census results.) The numbering system established in 1925 for City Council districts began with No. 1 in the north of the city, the San Fernando Valley
San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of southern California, United States, defined by the dramatic mountains of the Transverse Ranges circling it...
, and ended with No. 15 in the south, the Harbor area.
As the city's population expanded to the west, the 8th District's boundaries gradually shifted that way as well. Areas covered over the years have been:
1925: South of Washington Street
Washington Boulevard (Los Angeles)
Washington Boulevard is the longest continuous east-west arterial road in Los Angeles, California. It starts by the Pacific Ocean just west of Pacific Avenue in Marina del Rey, and ends far to the east in the city of Whittier, on Whittier Boulevard. It is south of Venice Boulevard for most of its...
, north of Jefferson on the western side and north of Slauson Avenue
Slauson Avenue
Slauson Avenue is a major east-west thoroughfare for southern Los Angeles County, California, named for the land developer and Los Angeles Board of Education member J. S. Slauson. It passes through Culver City, Ladera Heights, View Park-Windsor Hills, Baldwin Hills, Inglewood, South Los Angeles,...
on the eastern side, bounded on the east by Alameda Street and the Vernon
Vernon, California
Vernon is a city five miles south of downtown Los Angeles, California. The population was 112 at the 2010 United States Census, the smallest of any incorporated city in the state....
city line.
1926: Bounded by 47th Street, Vermont Avenue
Vermont Avenue
Vermont Avenue is one of the longest running north/south streets in Los Angeles, California with a length of about . Located just west of the Harbor Freeway for the major portion south of Downtown Los Angeles, it starts in Griffith Park at the Greek Theatre in the Los Feliz neighborhood as a...
, Florence Avenue
Florence Avenue
Florence Avenue is a west-east street in Los Angeles County that starts off as Mills Road at Janine Drive in Whittier. At Telegraph Road, it changes to Florence...
and Alameda Street.
1928: Same as before, with the addition of an area bounded by Central Avenue, Manchester Avenue, Vermont Avenue
Vermont Avenue
Vermont Avenue is one of the longest running north/south streets in Los Angeles, California with a length of about . Located just west of the Harbor Freeway for the major portion south of Downtown Los Angeles, it starts in Griffith Park at the Greek Theatre in the Los Feliz neighborhood as a...
and Florence Avenue
Florence Avenue
Florence Avenue is a west-east street in Los Angeles County that starts off as Mills Road at Janine Drive in Whittier. At Telegraph Road, it changes to Florence...
.
1929: "Extreme southwest."
1932: ". . . due to the exceptional growth of the western part of the city, a general movement toward the ocean was necessary." East boundary: Central Avenue. North: Vernon Avenue. West: Vermont Avenue
Vermont Avenue
Vermont Avenue is one of the longest running north/south streets in Los Angeles, California with a length of about . Located just west of the Harbor Freeway for the major portion south of Downtown Los Angeles, it starts in Griffith Park at the Greek Theatre in the Los Feliz neighborhood as a...
. South: Century Boulevard
Century Boulevard
Century Boulevard is a street in South Los Angeles, extending from Wilmington Avenue in the east to the passenger terminals at Los Angeles International Airport in the west ....
.
1935: Roughly the same as in 1932.
1937: North: 45th Street or 48th Street. East: Alameda Street. South: Manchester Avenue. West: Vermont Avenue
Vermont Avenue
Vermont Avenue is one of the longest running north/south streets in Los Angeles, California with a length of about . Located just west of the Harbor Freeway for the major portion south of Downtown Los Angeles, it starts in Griffith Park at the Greek Theatre in the Los Feliz neighborhood as a...
.
1940: "The general trend is westward and northeastward, due to heavy construction in the San Fernando Valley
San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of southern California, United States, defined by the dramatic mountains of the Transverse Ranges circling it...
and the beach areas."
In 1940, the 8th District was bounded on the north by Vernon Avenue, on the west by Western Avenue
Western Avenue
Western Avenue, some 10 miles in length, is one of the major roads leading out of London, England. It is part of the A40, leaving the city in a north-westerly direction...
, on the east by the city limits or Alameda Street and on the south by about Slauson Avenue
Slauson Avenue
Slauson Avenue is a major east-west thoroughfare for southern Los Angeles County, California, named for the land developer and Los Angeles Board of Education member J. S. Slauson. It passes through Culver City, Ladera Heights, View Park-Windsor Hills, Baldwin Hills, Inglewood, South Los Angeles,...
.
1955: ". . . bordering on Huntington Park
Huntington Park
-In the United States:* Huntington Park, California* Huntington Park , a park in Newport News, Virginia* Huntington Park , a minor league baseball stadium in Columbus, Ohio...
and Vernon
Vernon, California
Vernon is a city five miles south of downtown Los Angeles, California. The population was 112 at the 2010 United States Census, the smallest of any incorporated city in the state....
, from Vernon Avenue to 94th Street. . . . A considerable percentage of the population is Negro; they hold that their race should have some representation in the City Council. On the other hand, left-wing Democrats, following the banner of Rep. Jimmy Roosevelt
James Roosevelt
James Roosevelt was the oldest son of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He was a United States Congressman, an officer in the United States Marine Corps, an aide to his father, the official Secretary to the President, a Democratic Party activist, and a businessman.-Early life:Roosevelt was...
, also have a candidate in the race, which may split the Negro vote."
1964: Enlarged by absorbing two-thirds of the old 12th District, which was moved to the San Fernando Valley because of the growth of population there.
1971. Runs "from Adams Blvd. through the south central city
Central City
In city planning, a Central City is the largest or most important city or cities of a metropolitan area, of which the other smaller cities and towns of the metropolitan area are suburbs. A central city is usually the first settlement established in an urban region before the outlying districts came...
to around Century Blvd.
Century Boulevard
Century Boulevard is a street in South Los Angeles, extending from Wilmington Avenue in the east to the passenger terminals at Los Angeles International Airport in the west ....
and includes parts of Watts.
1975: "The district runs in a north-south line in South-Central Los Angeles, from Adams and Jefferson Blvds. on the north, to Normandie and Central Avenue on the west, 118th St. on the south, and Arlington and Van Ness on the west. . . . [It] suffers some of the worst crime, unemployment and housing problems in the city."
1992: Line shifted west to include the Santa Barbara Plaza
Marlton Square
Marlton Square is a one block, , retail and residential area located in the Crenshaw district of Los Angeles. It is also known as Santa Barbara Plaza. The site has been the center of a long running controversy involving the developer Capital Vision Equities, the Los Angeles City Redevelopment...
on Crenshaw Boulevard, as well as Baldwin Hills.
Officeholders
The district has been represented by nine men and no women. They have been:- Frank L. ShawFrank L. ShawFrank L. Shaw was the first mayor of a major American city to be recalled from office, in 1938. He was also a member of the Los Angeles City Council and then the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors...
, 1925–27 - Evan LewisEvan Lewis (politician)Evan Lewis was a member of the Los Angeles, California, City Council between 1925 and 1941.-Biography:Lewis was born in Wales on July 2, 1869, and was taken to Iowa when young. He became a U.S. citizen in 1890, two years after moving to California. He was at various times a deputy sheriff, a...
, 1927–41 - Charles A. Allen, 1941–47
- Kenneth HahnKenneth HahnKenneth "Kenny" Hahn was a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for forty years, from 1952 to 1992. Hahn was on the Los Angeles City Council from 1947 to 1952. He was an ardent supporter of civil rights throughout the 1960s, and met Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1961.-Biography:Hahn...
, 1947–53 - Gordon HahnGordon HahnGordon R. Hahn was a member of the Los Angeles City Council and California State Assembly in the mid-20th Century.While on the council, he cast the decisive vote that brought the Brooklyn Dodgers to Los Angeles and was instrumental in the appointment of Gilbert Lindsay, who became the first...
, 1953–63 - Billy G. MillsBilly G. MillsBilly G. Mills is a retired Los Angeles Superior Court judge and a former Los Angeles City Council member, serving from 1963 to 1974. He was one of the first three African-Americans elected to the council.-Biography:...
, 1963–75 - Robert C. FarrellRobert C. FarrellRobert C. Farrell was a journalist and a member of the Los Angeles City Council from 1974 until 1991.-Biography:Farrell was born in Natchez, Mississippi, on October 1, 1936, and moved with his family to New Orleans and Newark, New Jersey, before settling in Los Angeles, where he attended Los...
, 1975–91 - Mark Ridley-ThomasMark Ridley-ThomasMark Ridley-Thomas , often referred to by his initials, MRT, is a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for District 2, who succeeded Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke...
, 1991–2003 - Bernard Parks, 2003–