Los Angeles City Council District 5
Encyclopedia
Los Angeles City Council District 5 is one of the 15 districts of the Los Angeles City Council
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...
. The 5th District was mapped at its origin in 1925 in the West Adams District of Los Angeles, but over the years its boundaries have been shifted west and north in keeping with the city's population changes. Today, it covers communities in Los Angeles's Westside and part of the San Fernando Valley. It has been represented by eleven men and one woman. Paul Koretz
Paul Koretz
Paul Koretz is an American politician. He is currently a member of the Los Angeles City Council, representing the Fifth Council District. He was previously a member of the California State Assembly and the West Hollywood City Council...
is the current council member.
Modern
The district covers all or a portion of the following:Westside: Bel Air, Beverly Crest, Beverlywood, California Country Club, Carthay Circle, Century City, Cheviot Hills
Cheviot Hills
The Cheviot Hills is a range of rolling hills straddling the England–Scotland border between Northumberland and the Scottish Borders.There is a broad split between the northern and the southern Cheviots...
, Comstock Hills, Encino, Fairfax, Hollywood, Melrose, Palms, Pico-Robertson, Roscomare, Tract 7260, UCLA, West of Westwood, Westside Village, Westwood, Westwood Gardens and Westwood South of Santa Monica.
Valley: Encino, Oak Forest Canyon, Sherman Oaks, Sherman Oaks Galleria
Sherman Oaks Galleria
Sherman Oaks Galleria is a shopping mall and business center located in the Sherman Oaks neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States, at the corner of Ventura and Sepulveda Boulevards in the San Fernando Valley....
, Sherman Village, Studio City and Valley Village.
See official city map outlining District 5.
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.
The 5th District originally encompassed the West Adams area, bounded on the north by Washington Boulevard, on the south by Exposition Boulevard, on the west by Robertson Boulevard and on the east approximately by 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...
.
The district has followed the increase in the population in Los Angeles from the west-of-Vermont area westward and northward toward the San Fernando Valley. Rough boundaries or descriptions of the 5th District have been as follows:
1926: West Adams and Jefferson Street area, with district headquarters at 2646 South Normandie Avenue.
1928: "The east boundary of the Fifth District remains as Vermont avenue and the south boundary remains as Exposition Boulevard. The north boundary runs from Vermont avenue west on Washington street to Western avenue and then the line turns north on Western avenue to Eighth street and west on Eighth street to West Boulevard, which constitutes the western boundary."
1932: "Bounded on the east by Vermont avenue, on the north by Wilshire Boulevard, on the west by La Brea avenue and on the south by Exposition Boulevard."
1937: ". . . on the east by Western to Pico, by Hobart to Washington, and by Vermont to Exposition and on the west by Crenshaw and Rimpau."
1940: On the north by Wilshire Boulevard, on the east by Western or Vermont, on the south by Exposition Boulevard, on the west by Arlington, Crenshaw and minor streets.
1949: ". . . part of the general Wilshire area."
1957: Part of the Wilshire Boulevard area, extending to Westwood and West Los Angeles.
1965. From Fairfax Avenue
Fairfax Avenue
Fairfax Avenue is a street on north central Los Angeles, California. It runs from La Cienega Boulevard with Culver City at its southern end to Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood on its northern end.Fairfax Avenue forms the western boundary of Hancock Park as well as Park La Brea, an 160 acre ,...
to the San Diego Freeway
San Diego Freeway
The San Diego Freeway is a named freeway in Southern California. It refers to the following two segments:*Interstate 5 in California, from the Mexico – United States border at the San Ysidro district of San Diego to Interstate 405 in Irvine...
and from Bel-Air and Beverly Hills south to Washington Boulevard.
Population
According to the official website, the district:is home to almost 260,000 diverse residents. . . . the district population is 10% Asian, 3% Black non-Hispanic, 8% Hispanic/Latino, 74% White non-Hispanic, and 4% mixed race. The district includes many thriving residential neighborhoods, with approximately 46% homeowners and 54% renters.
Names
- Robert Stewart SparksRobert Stewart SparksRobert Stewart Sparks was a Los Angeles City Council member in the 1920s. He was the first person to represent the 5th District under a new city charter effective in 1925...
, 1925–1927 - Virgil A. MartinVirgil A. MartinVirgil A. Martin was a business executive and member of the Los Angeles City Council between 1927 and 1931.-Biography:Martin was born October 15, 1874, in Tecumseh, Nebraska, the son of Judson W. Martin and Ennis C. Smith...
, 1927–31 - Roy DonleyRoy DonleyRoy L. Donley was a member of the Los Angeles, California, City Council from the Fifth District in 1931 and 1932. He was also deputy United States Internal Revenue collector....
, 1931–1933 - Byron B. BrainardByron B. BrainardByron B. Brainard was an electrician, auto mechanic, auto salesman, real estate broker and community newspaper editor who was also a Los Angeles City Council member between 1933 and 1939.-Biography:Byron B...
, 1933–39 - Arthur E. BriggsArthur E. BriggsDr. Arthur Elbert Briggs was a teacher and law school dean who was a Los Angeles, California, City Council member from 1939 to 1941 and the leader of the Ethical Society of Los Angeles in 1953.-Biography:...
, 1939–41 - Ira J. McDonaldIra J. McDonaldIra J. McDonald was a Downey, California, attorney and City Council member in Los Angeles, California, between 1941 and 1945.-Biography:...
, 1941–45 - George P. CronkGeorge P. CronkNot to be confused with George H. Moore, Los Angeles City Council member, 1943–1951.George Parkman Cronk , who went by George P. Cronk, was an insurance man who was on the Los Angeles City Council from 1945 to 1952.-Biography:...
, 1945–53 - Rosalind Wiener WymanRosalind Wiener WymanRosalind Wiener Wyman is a California political figure who was the youngest person ever elected to the Los Angeles City Council and the second woman to serve there. She was influential in bringing the baseball Dodgers from Brooklyn, New York, to their new home in Chavez Ravine in Los Angeles...
, 1953–65 - Edmund D. EdelmanEdmund D. EdelmanEdmund D. Edelman was a member of the Los Angeles City Council from 1965 to 1974 and of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors from 1975 to 1994...
, 1965–75 - Zev YaroslavskyZev YaroslavskyZev Yaroslavsky is a Los Angeles County politician. He served on the Los Angeles City Council from 1975 until 1994, when he was elected to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. He was preceded in both offices by Edmund D...
, 1975–85 - Michael FeuerMichael FeuerMichael Nelson Feuer is an American politician and lawyer. He has been elected to three two-year terms in the California State Assembly, representing the 42nd Assembly District. The district includes Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, and parts of West Los Angeles...
, 1985–2001 - Jack WeissJack WeissJack Stephen Weiss is an American politician. He is a former member of the Los Angeles City Council representing the 5th district from 2001 to 2009. He previously served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Central District of California from 1994 to 2000...
, 2001–09 - Paul KoretzPaul KoretzPaul Koretz is an American politician. He is currently a member of the Los Angeles City Council, representing the Fifth Council District. He was previously a member of the California State Assembly and the West Hollywood City Council...
, 2009–
Highlights
- Robert Stewart SparksRobert Stewart SparksRobert Stewart Sparks was a Los Angeles City Council member in the 1920s. He was the first person to represent the 5th District under a new city charter effective in 1925...
's nickname was "Cupid," and he gave romantic advice.
- Roy DonleyRoy DonleyRoy L. Donley was a member of the Los Angeles, California, City Council from the Fifth District in 1931 and 1932. He was also deputy United States Internal Revenue collector....
was acquitted on a charge of accepting a bribe.
- Byron B. BrainardByron B. BrainardByron B. Brainard was an electrician, auto mechanic, auto salesman, real estate broker and community newspaper editor who was also a Los Angeles City Council member between 1933 and 1939.-Biography:Byron B...
died of strangulation on a piece of meat.
- Arthur E. BriggsArthur E. BriggsDr. Arthur Elbert Briggs was a teacher and law school dean who was a Los Angeles, California, City Council member from 1939 to 1941 and the leader of the Ethical Society of Los Angeles in 1953.-Biography:...
was a law school dean.
- Rosalind Wiener WymanRosalind Wiener WymanRosalind Wiener Wyman is a California political figure who was the youngest person ever elected to the Los Angeles City Council and the second woman to serve there. She was influential in bringing the baseball Dodgers from Brooklyn, New York, to their new home in Chavez Ravine in Los Angeles...
at age 22 was the youngest council member ever seated and the first woman.
- Zev YaroslavskyZev YaroslavskyZev Yaroslavsky is a Los Angeles County politician. He served on the Los Angeles City Council from 1975 until 1994, when he was elected to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. He was preceded in both offices by Edmund D...
and Edmund D. EdelmanEdmund D. EdelmanEdmund D. Edelman was a member of the Los Angeles City Council from 1965 to 1974 and of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors from 1975 to 1994...
became Los Angeles County supervisors.