LA City Council could meet just one day a week under voter-approved charter overhaul

The workweek for Los Angeles City Council members could be reduced to just one required meeting day under a sweeping City Hall overhaul backed by voters.Voters supported two separate charter amendments that would reduce the number of required full Council meetings and change how the cash-strapped city manages billions of taxpayer dollars.The changes come as Mayor-elect Nithya Raman prepares to inherit a city struggling with budget problems, crumbling streets and costly infrastructure mandates that have slowed road repairs.Charter Amendment EE, which would reduce the minimum number of full City Council meeting days from three to one per week, has a narrow lead with 52.76% support, according to the latest unofficial election results.The measure does not give council members a four-day weekend.They can still hold additional meetings, attend committee hearings and handle district business.But it would eliminate the longstanding requirement that the full 15-member Council convene three days a week.The measure would also make it harder for residents to challenge City Hall decisions by increasing the number of signatures needed to force a referendum from 10 percent to 15 percent of the votes cast in the previous mayoral election.A separate measure, Charter Amendment LA, was headed toward passage with 62.42% support, bringing major changes to the city’s budgeting and public works operations.The measure would shift Los Angeles from annual budgets to two-year spending plans, require a long term infrastructure plan and strengthen the authority of a director overseeing the city’s five Public Works bureaus.It would also allow the city to restructure or eliminate the Board of Public Works and remove certain restrictions on mortgaging city-owned property.Councilwomen Katy Yaroslavsky and Eunisses Hernandez introduced a motion last week calling for city financial officials to produce an implementation plan within 30 days, including a financial forecast through fiscal year 2029...