City Council Approves Redistricting Plan : Reapportionment: Critics say the new map protects incumbents and deprives Latinos of greater political clout. Mayor Bradley has not signaled whether he will sign it.

A Los Angeles City Council redistricting map that critics say protects officeholders while depriving the city’s emerging Latino majority of greater political clout at City Hall was approved and forwarded to Mayor Tom Bradley on Friday.

Immediately after the council gave final approval to the plan, attorneys for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund hand-delivered a letter to Bradley’s office urging the mayor to veto it.

Bradley has not signaled his intentions. The map creates a dilemma for the mayor, who has not decided whether to seek reelection next year. The map, supported by the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People and the three black council members but opposed by MALDEF and the two Latino council members, is symbolic of a battle for political power caused by changing demographics.

The map assigns different council representatives to 650,000 of the city’s 3.5 million residents.

In the letter to Bradley, MALDEF President Antonia Hernandez said the plan denies Latinos an opportunity to elect two more Latino council members.

“The plan violates the Voting Rights Act,” she said, referring to a prohibition on splitting large blocs of minority voters. Latinos account for about 40% of the city’s population, but only two Latinos serve on the 15-member council.

Supporters of the map contend that it is the best compromise between African-American and Latino interests who fought over carving up the economically and politically important downtown.

The plan adds the Broadway shopping district to Latino Councilman Richard Alatorre’s district while retaining much of the rest of downtown in black Councilwoman Rita Walters’ district.

Backers of the plan say it also carves out Latino majorities in two additional districts--a San Fernando Valley district represented by Ernani Bernardi, who is retiring next year, and a new district stretching from Mt. Washington to Hollywood and represented by Michael Woo, who is considering running for mayor.

But MALDEF officials contend that Latinos make up only 24% of the registered voters in Woo’s new district, making it unlikely that a Latino could be elected there for years. In her letter to Bradley, Hernandez said MALDEF drew an alternative map that gave Latinos more voting power while protecting the three black council members.

The council voted 9 to 4 in approving the map. Woo, who was absent Friday, had previously voted for the plan. Voting against it were the council’s two Latino members, Alatorre and Mike Hernandez, and council members Ruth Galanter and Joel Wachs. Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores also was absent.

“I’m here because of the courts, not because of this council,” said Hernandez, who was elected to a Latino-majority district carved out in 1985 as a result of a voting rights suit. “I know somebody else is going to be here because of the courts.”

MALDEF attorney Vibiana Andrade said that she has brought the council action to the attention of the U. S. Justice Department, which was MALDEF’s partner in the 1985 voting rights lawsuit against the city. A Justice Department spokesman declined comment.

Council President John Ferraro said he has been assured by city lawyers that the plan is legal.