LA City Council Members Urge Charter Reform Amid Scandals And Crises

LOS ANGELES, CA — As a Los Angeles City Council committee continues to discuss ways to establish an independent redistricting commission and the possibility of expanding the council, council members Tuesday introduced a motion calling for reforming the City Charter.

Council President Paul Krekorian, Council President Pro Tem Marqueece Harris-Dawson and Councilman Tim McOsker filed a motion Tuesday directing a report back with best practices for a charter reform process and options to create a commission to provide recommendations for the 2024 or 2026 ballots.

According to the motion, the current charter was developed in the late 1990s through two charter reform commissions that conducted an "extensive review and analysis of every section of the prior charter."

Officials say that process was conducted due to widespread dissatisfaction with the city at the time, which included a failed secession movement in the San Fernando Valley.

"Twenty-three years after that overhauled charter went into effect, the city faces new challenges that could not have been foreseen then, as well as new opportunities for progress, improved services, greater accountability and more responsiveness," the motion reads.

The crises of homelessness, housing unaffordability, a global pandemic, economic strain, climate change urgency and threats to public safety impact the city's delivery of core services, the councilmen note in their motion.

Confidence and trust in city government has also been eroded by "unethical conduct" of some city leaders, the motion states.

For those reasons, the council members are looking to engage with the public to begin both minor revisions in the short term and major overhaul in the long term of the charter. These amendments may include addressing the city's land use process, role of the Ethics Commission, delivery of city services, vacancies in city elected offices, censure and suspension.

The motion would create a process for a periodic review of the City Charter as well, with the goal of addressing governance issues by "gradually proposing amendments with a regular cadence, rather than the current process of completely overhauling the charter," the motion reads.

In 2007, voters in Portland, Oregon adopted a regular Charter Review Commission and starting in 2010, it has referred nine amendments to the ballot, all of which were overwhelmingly adopted by voters.

The councilmen note in their motion that a similar process is worthy of consideration in Los Angeles.

City News Service