In Los Angeles, raw political power was laid bare in a leaked secret recording. In Sacramento, raw power is now being dressed up as “reform” and sent to the November 2025 ballot as Proposition 50. These two episodes show how lines on a map become lines of fracture for communities and fuel for partisan advantage.

Los Angeles has 15 City Council districts. When leaked audio of a private meeting among several council members emerged in 2022, it revealed how even small numbers of seats can produce intense fights. Then-Council President Nury Martinez, Councilmembers Gil Cedillo and Kevin DeLeon, and one other individual were caught discussing which politicians should “get” which neighborhoods, often with racial undertones that shocked the city.

Council President Martinez spoke of “little shor

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