CENSUS SHOWS HISPANIC RANKS UP.

Byline: - Troy Anderson

Los Angeles County government officials released census data Tuesday showing the Hispanic population increased 11 to 47 percent while white populations decreased 14 to 51 percent in the five county supervisorial districts.

``Clearly, this means more Latino influence,'' said Antonio Gonzalez, president of the William C. Velasquez Institute. ``This translates into increased influence in terms of issues, services and the like for Latinos.

``I think the supervisors are going to begin, if they haven't already, reorientating the way they think about serving their constituents, and they'll have to.''

The statistics show the population of Hispanics in Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky's district increased from 514,187 in 1990 to 690,424 in 2000, while the white population dropped from 1,053,629 to 925,630.

In Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich's district, the Hispanic population increased from 373,749 to 513,823, while the white population dropped from 1,099,512 to 962,936.

In terms of redistricting, the statistics show Antonovich and Yaroslavsky's districts grew more than the countywide average, with Antonovich 20,426 and Yaroslavsky 65,629 above the 1.9 million ideal district population.

Supervisor Don Knabe will need to gain 18,255 residents while Supervisor Gloria Molina will need 46,070 and Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke will need 21,732 to reach the 1.9 million population in their districts.

``The 3rd and 5th districts grew more than the countywide average,'' Yaroslavsky said. ``The 1st, 2nd and 4th districts will have to gain slightly in population to meet the targets.''

Both Antonovich and Yaroslavsky said the numbers show that redistricting is not going to be as radical as had been assumed last year.