Charter Reform Will Rest on the Talents of Its Drafters

Los Angeles’s obtuse 72-year-old city charter definitely needs reform, but it matters whose version of reform we get.

Last fall, the Los Angeles City Council convened its Ad Hoc Commission on Charter Reform; that group has met several times and selected an executive director. Yet the intent of many council members in launching this commission was as much to block approval of an elected charter commission on the April 8 ballot as to encourage an independent and comprehensive review of the city’s outdated and dysfunctional charter. For that reason and because the council can effectively bury proposals it dislikes, its efforts, even though earnest, may be seen as neither independent nor comprehensive.

The Times has endorsed Proposition 8, which would convene a second charter reform commission independent of City Council control. In addition, those voting in the April 8 election can select representatives to that proposed commission. Passage of Proposition 8 and election of 15 new commission members, one in each council district, would mean that a second group would undertake a two-year parallel effort to reform the charter. The result of this group’s labor would go directly before the voters; that’s a big advantage.

Below are the Times endorsements for the 15 commission seats. We offered all 52 candidates for these posts the opportunity to respond in writing to questions about their qualifications and experience as well as their views on the problems with the city’s charter. The 15 candidates who carry our endorsement are those whose responses demonstrated an understanding of the need for charter reform and open minds on a range of possible solutions. In some districts, the candidate we endorse is also endorsed by Mayor Richard Riordan, the San Fernando Valley Homeowners Assn. or the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, but our choices overall do not favor any one of these slates.

The Times has selected a mix that represents the many different communities in this vast and diverse city. Unfortunately the talent is not spread evenly. Voters in some districts must make a difficult choice among several worthy candidates while in others none is very strong. As a result, in some districts where there is tough competition, some good candidates are not getting our endorsement.

We expect much from the men and women on our list. We expect them to pursue charter reform in a conscientious and deliberative manner. We expect them to reach their recommendations through study and open debate, looking to models of governance used by other cities as well as the needs of our unique and dynamic city. We expect their decisions to represent an honest consensus on how to make Los Angeles work more efficiently and its residents feel heard and involved.

This commission will have failed if its recommendations amount to a laundry list of the tired solutions long promoted by one interest group or another. Common good, not political gain, must be the yardstick.

And finally, we urge those elected to recognize that the result of their efforts would be strengthened by drawing on the talent in the City Council’s ongoing commission--and there is no prohibition of such collaboration.

For the office of charter commissioner The Times endorses:

District 1: Gloria Romero, community college professor and trustee.

District 2: Anne Finn, community activist.

District 3: Gary Thomas, president, United Chambers of Commerce of the San Fernando Valley.

District 4: Bill Weinberger, attorney.

District 5: Erwin Chemerinsky, law professor.

District 6: Chester A. Widom, architect.

District 7: Marcos Castaneda, City Council aide.

District 8: Marguerite Archie-Hudson, former state Assembly member, community college trustee, member of City Council’s Ad Hoc Commission on Charter Reform.

District 9: Ricardo A. Torres II, attorney.

District 10: Jackie Dupont-Walker, economic developer.

District 11: Rob Glushon, attorney.

District 12: Keith Stuart Richman, physician and businessman.

District 13: Bennett Kayser, teacher.

District 14: Sylvia Robledo, hospital administrator.

District 15: Jerry Gaines, teacher.