Town of 855 Takes Its Politics Seriously

The mayor, Edwin G. Schuck Jr., captured his post a few years ago with 31 votes, besting his rival by eight.

It's not surprising then that the biggest electoral issue in town is measured in small increments: How can the five City Council members best represent the interests of 855 citizens?

The answer is tricky because Bradbury -- a 1.9-square-mile hillside community of rambling estates and horse corrals in the San Gabriel Valley -- elects its council members by district, not at large. The issue confronting the city today is whether to redraw the district boundaries.

Schuck guesses that he represents up to 400 people, and that, in Bradbury's world of micro-politics, is the problem.

Other council members represent about 100 people, leaving Bradbury's electoral system out of balance.

"We want to make sure we have one man, one vote representation," said Schuck, who represents District 1, a gated community with lots ranging from five to 100 acres.

Most of Los Angeles County's 88 cities elect their councils at large, meaning any voter can vote for any council candidate.

Only Bradbury and nine other municipalities vote by district, usually big cities such as Los Angeles and Long Beach.

Even the second smallest city voting by district, Redondo Beach, has 63,000 residents.

Redistricting is often implemented to increase minority political representation, and governments and advocacy groups have spent millions of dollars on bitter redistricting battles nationwide.

An entire industry of consultants and number crunchers has evolved to devise redistricting formulas.

So Bradbury, electorally speaking, is in a class by itself. Its current dilemma leaves redistricting experts dumbfounded, or at least chuckling.

"There are apartment complexes in Los Angeles bigger than Bradbury," said veteran political consultant Rick Taylor.

"This is what we've sunk to? Here's some advice for them: Don't spend too much time or energy, [or] God forbid hire a consultant to draw the lines. You can do it in an afternoon at the coffee shop, if there is one in Bradbury."

As a matter of fact, there isn't. There are no restaurants, no supermarkets, no gas stations.

The lush hillside community has only homes -- most of them mini-mansions or more -- and stables filled with horses. Residents rarely see their neighbors, except when riding on a tangle of horse trails.