Panel balks at plans to expand L.A. City Council to 25 members
This is read by an automated voice.Please report any issues or inconsistencies here.
Plans to expand the Los Angeles City Council from 15 to 25 members are fading as a key council committee said the proposal needed more study before it could go to voters.The Rules, Elections and Intergovernmental Relations Committee, made up of five council members, recommended dropping plans to expand the council as part of a charter reform measure for the Nov.3 ballot, saying the measure needs more study before it is put before voters.
The idea has been under discussion for nearly four years.The council committee, which had its final meeting on charter proposals Monday, also rejected proposals to adopt ranked choice voting, in which voters list candidates in order of preference, and to split the city attorney’s office into two roles — an elected city prosecutor and appointed city attorney.The committee did move forward with putting other measures before voters — including allowing noncitizens to vote in L.A.
city and L.A.Unified School District elections, increasing Police Department oversight, establishing a director of Public Works, implementing a two-year budget cycle (instead of every year), establishing a capital improvement program to guide the city’s infrastructure, and removing a section of the charter that had prevented the city from selling goods it produces.
The panel’s recommendations will be taken up Wednesday by the full City Council, which will have the final say over what proposals are included in the charter reform ballot measure.The committee’s decision to hold back on council expansion and other hot-button issues came after the chief legislative analyst office recommended that the measures be studied further, with council expansion going before voters in 2028.
Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, who chairs the committee, said he would establish a council committee to address future charter reform.Councilmember Nithya Raman pushed to h...