California Atty. General Rob Bonta begins pressuring Los Angeles' political leaders to sign a legal agreement forcing new boundaries to be drawn for the city's 15 congressional districts. It's a dramatic step that could send shockwaves through City Hall.

A draft legal document prepared by Mr. Bonta's office, a copy of which was reviewed by the Times, calls for the city to complete new legislative district maps in time for the 2026 primary election. . According to secret documents, council members will be prohibited from considering their own political fortunes when approving these maps.

The document does not indicate whether city elected officials have agreed to Bonta's request or if they plan to deny it. Nor would he say whether Bonta's office found any violations of law or other irregularities during the city's 2021 redistricting process.

But Bonta's legal team has argued in recent weeks that the maps approved by the City Council in 2021 currently do not adequately represent Latinos in parts of the city, according to two people familiar with the discussions. They have expressed concern that this may be the case.

Bonta's office cited two East Side congressional districts (one represented by Unis Hernández and the other represented by Kevin de Leon) as areas of concern, and said they would said there aren't enough Latino voters to give Latinos a chance to vote. Officials said the candidate, who declined to be named because he is not authorized to speak publicly on the issue, will elect a candidate of his own choosing.

City attorneys said in a meeting with City Council members that Bonta's team also discussed the possibility of creating a third “Latino” district in the San Fernando Valley. The district has a high concentration of Latino voters. The idea was proposed by the city's Citizens' Zoning Commission in 2021, but was rejected by the council.

Bonta has been investigating the City Council's contentious redistricting process for nearly two years. He announced the investigation following a scandal surrounding secretly recorded conversations about the proposed map.

Council President Marquise Harris-Dawson declined to discuss Bonta's request, which was the subject of the council's lengthy closed-door meeting last week. He referred questions to City Atty. Heidi Feldstein Soto's office declined to comment.

Joanne Adams, deputy director of communications for Bonta's office, also declined to comment, saying only that the attorney general's investigation into the 2021 Los Angeles rezoning process “remains ongoing.”

Draft document titled “”[Proposed] The decision does not say when discussions with the city began or when they are expected to end. Some city council members declined to comment, saying they are prohibited from discussing legal issues raised in closed-door meetings.

The document calls on the city to create new maps that comply with the federal Voting Rights Act and the state's Fair Maps Act. These laws require district boundaries to be drawn to ensure underrepresented groups, such as black and Latino voters, have access to the right to vote. Select the candidate of your choice.

Any entered judgment must be signed by both parties and approved by a superior court judge.

Bonta's meeting with the city comes at a shocking moment. Candidates in the Nov. 5 election are campaigning intensely to represent three parliamentary districts whose boundaries were approved and considered final in 2021. Voters will decide next month whether to create an independent redistricting process in L.A. starting in 2031 that does not involve the City Council.

Redrawing the City Council's zoning boundaries by 2026 could also come into conflict with the city's new Code Reform Commission. The committee is currently being established and is expected to consider expanding the size of the city council next year.

Redistricting typically occurs only at the beginning of each decade after the release of U.S. Census data. In Los Angeles, the City Council previously had final say over maps. The process is politically fraught, with neighborhood groups, advocacy groups, civil rights groups and even city council members pushing the boundaries they believe will best serve them and their districts.

The request from Bonta's office could raise new questions about whether the council could have done more to increase Latino voting power in 2021, when the map was approved. Although Latinos make up nearly half of the city's population, only one-third of the City Council seats, or 5 out of 15 seats, are held by Latinos.

The new redistricting process could also force the City Council to revisit a particularly turbulent period.

In 2022, the public heard secretly recorded audio of three city councilors, De Leon, Nuri Martinez, and Gil Cedillo, discussing redistricting with labor leaders. The conversation, which took place in 2021, included crude and racist comments as well as commentary about the political influence of Latinos. Participants also discussed how to rework the council zoning map that is being prepared by the Resident Zoning Committee.

In the wake of the scandal, activists packed the chambers of Congress and accused three members of Congress of working to undermine the power of black voters. Mr. Martinez resigned immediately. Mr. Cedillo has already lost re-election, but served out the remainder of his term.

De Leon apologized for what he said and didn't say during the conversation. But he rejected any attempt to reduce Black voting power, pointing out that Congress left three districts with Black legislators almost completely unchanged in 2021 redistricting.

Neither Mr. de Leon nor Mr. Hernandez would comment on Mr. Bonta's investigation or the idea that there may be a problem with Latino representation in their districts.

Bonta announced the investigation days after the audio leak, saying the redistricting process is “foundational to democracy and the ability of communities to have their voices heard.”

He said at the time that the leaked audio cast doubt on the process.

“I will work to uncover the truth so that the people of this state can regain confidence in this process,” Bonta said.

The 2021 redistricting process was particularly contentious, with several City Council members at odds with the 21-member Citizens Commission. The commission recommended significant changes to the boundaries of districts located in or near the San Fernando Valley.

During deliberations, the commission called for the creation of a new majority-Latino congressional district in the West Valley. Approximately 40% of the voting population would have been Latino, which could increase the chances of having a Latino City Council member in the future.

That proposal would have required major changes to the district represented by Martinez and three other City Council members: Paul Krekorian, Nitya Raman and Bob Blumenfield. At one point, Raman and Krekorian faced the possibility of losing their entire district.

Ultimately, the City Council rejected many of the changes proposed for the Valley, and the final district map was closer to the original.

This is not the first time the city has faced outside scrutiny over zoning and Latino representation. In 1985, the federal Department of Justice sued the city, accusing city council members of undermining the political influence of Latino voters in maps approved years earlier.

The complaint alleges that during the city's 1982 redistricting process, Latino residents who lived in or near downtown were dispersed across multiple city council districts. They also argued that the map was drawn in a way that weakened the voting power of Latinos in the northeast Valley.

The City Council resolved the incident by creating a new district with a high concentration of Latinos near downtown. They also made major changes to the lines in the San Fernando Valley, increasing the number of Latino residents in the district, which includes Sylmar and Pacoima.

The document drafted by Bonta's office does not say whether investigators found any specific wrongdoing, but it highlights other areas of concern.

This document requires City Council members, their staff, and all other city employees to take a training course on the state's Ralph M. Brown Act and the California Public Records Act, which are designed to ensure transparency and open government. I'm asking you to.

The city would also be required to institute new safeguards regarding employee communications and record-keeping. City officials would need to create a policy prohibiting the use of “personal accounts” to conduct city business.