The move to increase the number of people on the Los Angeles City Council has slowed in recent weeks as council members raise questions about how it would affect a range of issues, including the balance of power between the council and the mayor, and the delivery of city services.
The council’s Ad Hoc Committee on Governance Reform delayed a decision on whether to move forward with the proposal until at least January and is considering handing the question over to a yet-to-be-created charter reform commission.
City Council President Paul Krekorian, who chairs the ad hoc committee and has promised to get council expansion on the 2024 ballot, said last week that a commission might help build a “citywide consensus” on the issue.
But others warned that delaying could jeopardize expansion entirely.
“I am deeply concerned about the issue of momentum,” said Gary Segura, dean of the Luskin School of Public Affairs at UCLA, who co-chairs the LA Governance Reform Project, a group of academics across the city advocating for reform. “Why would they prefer a charter commission? Because it pushes the window out later.”
A call for reform
Local government reform activists have long argued that the 15-member council is too small for a city of 4 million people. The panel has been the same size since 1925, when the city replaced an at-large system with a district system.
Supporters of expansion say a larger city council could better reflect L.A.’s diversity and make council members more responsive to their constituents because they would be representing smaller districts. But others say a bigger council could weigh down decision-making and place…
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