Initiative to Double Council Size Debated

Representatives of about two dozen homeowner and citizen groups from throughout Los Angeles gathered Saturday in Universal City to debate the merits of doubling the size of the Los Angeles City Council and limiting elected officials to two four-year terms.

A proposed ballot initiative by Encino lawyer Daniel Max Shapiro, who organized the meeting, would increase the City Council from 15 to 30 members and limit all city elected officials to two consecutive terms. Shapiro said the expansion could be achieved with no increase in taxpayer costs by cutting the annual budget of each council member from $600,000 to $300,000.

Shapiro, president of the Studio City Residents’ Assn. and chairman of the Los Angeles Planning Commission’s Citizen Advisory Committee, said the measure would increase minority representation and make council members more accountable to voters.

“The districts are too large, council members are invulnerable and, as a result, they’re complacent,” Shapiro said.

The size of the council has not changed since 1925, although the city’s population is four times larger, he said.

‘Incumbent Unchallengeable’

“The council districts are so large that, as a practical matter, an incumbent is unchallengeable until such time as you have a million dollars,” Shapiro said.

Doubling the number of council districts would cut the cost of campaigning by reducing constituent population from 200,000 to 100,000, Shapiro said. “You could run a viable campaign for $25,000 to $50,000.”

Shapiro, who last year ran unsuccessfully as a Democratic candidate for city controller, said he does not expect to run for City Council.

Many of the people at the meeting--who represented areas as diverse as North Hollywood, Westwood, Venice and Echo Park--voiced reservations about the idea but debate was curtailed because Shapiro had to leave to attend a Little League game.

“It seems to us the expansion to 30 is hard to defend,” said Laura Lake, a representative of Friends of Westwood. “The reaction of the people is: ‘So instead of 15 crooks, you have 30 crooks.’ ”

Shapiro said his proposed 30 districts generally reflect the 35 communities identified by the city Planning Department.

Brian Moore, president of the Hillside Federation and Cahuenga Pass Coalition, was one of several people who disputed Shapiro’s contention that the expansion would not increase costs.

Two-Term Limit Favored

There was more support for the two-term limit for elected officials, who currently have no limit.

But Gerald Silver, president of Homeowners of Encino, argued against the limit, saying: “There’s a handful of council members that I’d really miss after two terms.”

Some said Shapiro’s proposal did not go far enough. At their request, Shapiro agreed to expand the scope of his proposed initiative to include campaign spending reform, conflict-of-interest laws and increased citizen input into the city planning process.

Representatives of groups decided to go back to their members to discuss the proposals. Shapiro said he has no date in mind for moving ahead with the initiative proposal.

A proposed charter amendment to expand the council from 15 to 17 members--and designed to increase minority representation--was defeated last year by a two-thirds margin. In 1970, voters spurned a similar charter amendment by a 42%-58% margin. Shapiro said his plan would fare better because it would not increase costs.

Previous opponents of enlarging the council included Valley council members Ernani Bernardi, Marvin Braude and Hal Bernson.