Corruption and scandals are disheartening to read about when it comes to your local government. But one of the best things you can do to hold officials accountable is to pay attention.
Your city council, board of supervisors, school board and more all hold public meetings that anybody can attend. These are times you can talk to your elected officials directly and hear about the policies they’re voting on that affect your community.
Thinking of attending for the first time? Here are some tips to get you started.
Figure out which government represents you
This seems like a no-brainer, but can actually be tricky to nail down. You might think you live in a neighborhood within L.A.’s city limits, but actually live in a separate city, or vice versa. Or you might think you live in a city but actually live in an unincorporated part of town, in which case you don’t even have a municipal government — you’re represented by the county board of supervisors.
You can input your address into these planning maps for L.A. County or Orange County to find out what city you live in, or if you’re in an unincorporated area. That will determine which government actually represents your neighborhood.
Once you know whether you live within a particular city’s jurisdiction or an unincorporated area of the county, you’ll know your main governing body for policies that impact where you live. If you live within a city – a mayor and city council vote on local rules. If you live within an unincorporated area of the county, your county board of supervisors makes the decisions.
Decide which meetings to attend
Who actually has power over the issue you’re interested in? Boards and commissions usually set policies for specific…
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