October 7 – Diane Lawrence

First, I oppose the City of Irvine being divided into districts.  Each City Council member should be looking out for the interests of ALL City residents, not just one district’s interests. This would be very divisive and result in each district competing for City resources.

If it is decided that the City of Irvine should be divided into voting districts, I support the Woodbridge Village Association’s recommendation that Woodbridge stay united as one district and NOT be divided into two districts.  Proposed district maps #135 and #138 should be eliminated from discussion.

As I understand it, the districting issue is to ensure that various ethnic groups are adequately represented. Irvine is not Los Angeles – each area of Irvine appears to be populated by many ethnicities and issues can still be addressed adequately by the City Council as they have been since incorporation in 1971.

Also, increasing the number of City Council seats to seven should be a separate ballot issue from establishing voting districts.

In summary, please:

* Do not support dividing the City into districts.

* If districting is approved, keep Woodbridge together in the same district.

* Have two separate ballot issues for voting districts and increasing the number of City Council seats.