Voters’ Charter Is Only Valid One

Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan is still maneuvering to get the city charter he wants, no matter the charter that voters passed last June. The City Council should resist.

The new charter, which takes effect in less than three months, grants the mayor broader authority over city agencies and managers than the current document. And by reorganizing some city departments, the charter should also help streamline operations and improve the delivery of city services like street repair and tree trimming.

Riordan’s frustration with the clunky City Hall bureaucracy sparked the reform effort that culminated with last June’s vote. The new charter will give Riordan much of what he wanted, including a tighter rein on city managers and departments, but not everything. The City Council, which mightily resisted reform, keeps many of its key powers, but the new charter weakens others.

Since June, the council has been drafting ordinances needed for the new charter to take effect July 1. Mostly this has been a duller-than-dishwater enterprise. The fireworks could start today.

An ordinance before the council will implement parts of the new charter that restructure and partially consolidate the city’s financial operations, now dispersed among many departments.

Neither the charter nor the implementing ordinance before the council goes as far in this direction as the mayor wants, so he has urged the council to go further--past what the voters authorized.

The new charter creates an Office of Finance, reporting primarily to the mayor for the purpose of collecting revenue, investing city funds and issuing licenses and permits, big changes that will give managers a much better handle on the city’s budget. Riordan wants to add debt issuance, revenue estimation and risk management.

While there is merit to some of the mayor’s proposals, council members are right to say no. Their motivation shouldn’t be their limitless antipathy toward Riordan--or his toward them--but the fact that last June voters approved a particular charter. This is the document that must be implemented, not some charter the mayor or the council hoped for.

The new charter is a first step toward a more responsive, efficient city; it was never intended to be the last word and can be amended as needed. But the voters, not the mayor or the council, should have the final say on such changes.