Laws of the Land : Making Rules is City Hall’s Business

It’s been said that making laws is like making sausage--you don’t want to see how it’s done. Indeed, at Los Angeles City Hall--just like in the state Legislature or Congress--it can be a messy, frustrating and time-consuming process.

But it is also a basic function of the Los Angeles City Council, which molds ideas put forth by council members or city officials--or perhaps even those of constituents.

In the case of a new law that prohibits the sale of knives, blades or other stabbing weapons to anyone younger than 18 years old, the idea was brought to Councilman Hal Bernson by a woman in his northwest San Fernando Valley district who discovered her 13-year-old son had purchased three knives from a corner liquor store.

Some proposals take long journeys before becoming law, with dozens of revisions or many trips between council committees. Bernson’s knife measure followed a relatively straight path. Here’s how it made the trip into law:

Step 1: Bernson introduces the knife ordinance Jan. 15, 1993.

Council members introduce ordinances by writing a brief description of the idea and providing copies to the city clerk’s office, the full City Council and posting copies in the City Council Chambers.

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Step 2: Council President John Ferraro refers the knife proposal to the Public Safety Committee the same day.

The council president sends the proposal to at least one of 15 council committees, ranging from Public Safety to Government Efficiency to Budget and Finance. Each council member chairs a three-member committee. The president’s decision can be overruled by a vote of at least eight council members. A proposed ordinance can be reviewed by more than one committee at the request of the council president or a committee chairman.

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Step 3: The Public Safety Committee forwards the knife ordinance to the city attorney’s office on Jan. 27.

Either the full council or a council committee can refer a proposal to the city attorney’s office, which must draft the legal language for the measure. In this case, the city attorney returned Bernson’s proposal to the committee and requested clarifications by April 8. Four days later, a committee aide wrote back with the requested clarifications.

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Step 4: The knife proposal is sent to the city’s Police Commission, which approves it Aug. 24. The Public Safety Committee then endorses the measure Nov. 8 and sends it to the full council.

The committees can refer proposed ordinances to a city agency for further review. But in most cases the committee holds a public hearing on the idea and then brings the matter back to the entire council with a recommendation, a rejection or request for modifications. The committee can also forward the item to the council without comment.

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Step 5: The City Council adopts the measure unanimously 15 to 0 and forwards it to the mayor on Nov. 16 for final approval.

When the proposed ordinance returns to the entire City Council, it can be adopted on the first time around by a unanimous vote with at least 12 members present. If the proposed ordinance gets majority support but at least one council member votes against it, the proposed ordinance must come back a week later for a “second reading.” The ordinance needs a simple majority on the second reading to be approved and referred to the mayor.

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Step 6: Mayor Richard Riordan signs the knife law Nov. 23. It’s published in a local newspaper on Dec. 1 and takes effect Jan. 1, 1994.

If the mayor signs it, the ordinance is published in a local newspaper and becomes law after 30 days. If the mayor does nothing for 10 calendar days, it is then published and becomes law automatically.

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Step 7: In the case of the knife law, Riordan chose not to exercise his veto power. Had he done so, the council could have attempted to override the veto within 60 days.

Ordinances that have to do with certain taxes, zoning changes or modifications to retirement benefits require at least 10 votes to override the veto. Other ordinances, such as General Plan amendments, emergency laws and certain taxes, require 12 votes to override a veto.

Ballot Measures

Some laws are enacted by the voters. Here’s how they get on the ballot:

* To put an initiative measure on a citywide ballot, a person or group would need to collect signatures of 15% of the voters in the last mayor’s race, or 87,413 signatures. A person collecting such signatures also can opt to avoid the citywide ballot and have the initiative put before the City Council, which would decide its fate.

* To place an item on the ballot to overturn an ordinance adopted by the City Council, a person would need to collect the signatures of 10% of the voters in the last mayor’s race, or 58,275.

* Once a measure is on the ballot, it requires a simple majority or a two-thirds vote in the case of certain tax or bond measures.

* The City Council can also place an item on the citywide ballot.

Source: Los Angeles City Clerk; Researched by HUGO MARTIN / Los Angeles Times