This email is getting sent out to members of Orthodox shuls in the ‘hood.
Once every ten years, new district lines are drawn for our representatives in Sacramento
and Washington. For decades, Orthodox Jewish voting power has been diluted because
our two largest neighborhoods – Hancock Park/Beverly-LaBrea/Fairfax and Pico-Robertson/Beverlywood/Beverly
Hills – have been placed in separate Assembly Districts.
The Opportunity . . .
A new Commission has been created to draw fair district lines without backroom deals.
We finally have an opportunity to unite our community into a single Assembly District
– and to increase our influence with our representatives in Sacramento. The would
mean more respect and assistance for our unique community.
In the first few draft maps, our two largest neighborhoods were placed in separate
districts. After receiving testimony and documentation by Agudath Israel, and letters
from organizations such as the Orthodox Union, the Simon Wiesenthal Center and Hatzalah,
the Commission adjusted the lines to unify parts of our community.
But the current draft map chops Pico-Robertson/Beverlywood in half, with Beverlywood
and South-of-Pico placed in a District with Culver City, Baldwin Hills and the Crenshaw
area. We want to unite our community in a single district, BUT WE NEED YOUR HELP!
votersfirstact@crc.ca.gov [mailto:votersfirstact@crc.ca.gov].
The Commission resumes work soon, so please act quickly!
What to say . . .
1. Tell them where you live – Pico-Robertson, Beverlywood, Hancock Park, Beverly-Fairfax,
Beverly Hills, Century City, Westwood, Santa Monica,
the Valley. Emails from Beverlywood and South-of-Pico are especially important.
(We are blessed to have significant communities in the Valley
and the far Westside. Geography prevents placing all in a single district. But
even those areas will benefit if our two large City neighborhoods are in
a single district.)
2. Tell them: The Fairfax/Hancock Park neighborhood and Pico-Robertson/Beverlywood
neighborhood constitute a single, integrated
community-of-interest (COI) with many shared institutions. The only way that the
Orthodox community will have a voice in the Assembly is if
Fairfax/Hancock Park and Pico-Robertson/Beverlywood are all in the “LAMWS” district.
3. Tell them your personal connections between these communities. Do you live
in one neighborhood and send your children to school in the
other? Shop in the other? Use a hospital in the other? Community activities?
Tomchei Shabbos? Hatzolah? Classes? Be specific. We need to
show that the neighborhoods interact and form a single community!
4. Tell them: Uniting our community in a single district will not weaken the
representation of any other minority group or community of
interest.
5. Thank them for putting some of Pico-Robertson into the “LAMWS” district,
but ask that they not divide Pico-Robertson/Beverlywood in half.
All of Pico-Robertson/Beverlywood should be in the “LAMWS” district, along with
Beverly-Fairfax, Hancock Park and Beverly Hills
6. Be respectful and appreciative. The 14 Commissioners must divide the whole
state, and none of them live in our neighborhoods. They do not
know us, so we need to educate them.
Supported by concerned Orthodox Jewish organizations in the Los Angeles Area.
