New City Charter Advocated as Alternative to Valley Secession

Responding to citizen discontent that is fueling talk of secession, a group of influential San Fernando Valley business and political leaders proposed reinventing the city of Los Angeles from scratch Thursday by replacing its 70-year-old charter.

City Councilman Mike Feuer promised to initiate charter reform almost immediately by bringing a proposal to the City Council, probably Tuesday.

“There are ideas whose time comes . . . a moment in history where we can really transform how we live, how we govern ourselves, how we do business,” Feuer said at a news conference. “I feel this moment is upon us now.”

The City Charter, which went into effect in 1925, is a blueprint for a complex and, critics say, unworkable system of local government.

The proposal to reform it received the endorsement of Mayor Richard Riordan.

“Unlike secession, reform can unite Angelenos,” the mayor said in a written statement.

As envisioned, the vehicle for this major overhaul of city government would be a 21-member citizens commission empowered to gather the opinions of residents from throughout the city and then write a charter suitable for a city entering the 21st century.

Each council member would appoint one commission member and the mayor would appoint six. The new charter would be put before voters.

In unveiling the proposal, attorney David W. Fleming, head of the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley, a business group, said talk of secession is being driven by residents’ feelings of being disconnected from local government.

Fleming said a new charter might well address the Valley’s complaints without secession, which he called a last resort.

A new charter could make local government more accountable, alleviating feelings of alienation from City Hall, Fleming said. For example, more local control could be written into the charter and City Council districts could be made smaller by expanding the council.

When the charter was written, each of the 15 council members represented 60,000 people. Over the years, their constituencies have swelled to 250,000.

The charter has also swelled. After being amended about 400 times, it is 694 pages long and so rigid that there is no room to respond to changing times, critics say.

Fleming emphasized that the reform effort must come from the bottom-up to be credible. Toward that end, he called for a staff of civilians, not government employees, to advise the group.

“The new charter cannot be viewed as a product of insiders,” Fleming said.

In a related announcement Thursday, a newly formed group, Valley VOTE, said it will lobby in the state Senate for legislation sponsored by Assemblywoman Paula L. Boland (R-Granada Hills). The bill, which passed the Assembly, would take away the City Council’s right to veto a vote for secession. That hurdle has proved insurmountable. If Boland’s bill becomes law, Valley voters will ultimately decide their own fate.

“If the Boland bill is a club to beat the City Council over the head to get some meaningful changes, we’re all for it,” said Walter Pride, president of a northwest Valley homeowners group.

Fleming credits Boland as being the catalyst for the charter reform effort.

“The idea of secession has for the first time brought restructuring of city government on the radar screen,” he said.

Boland said she supports reform efforts to make city government more responsive to residents.

“I’m glad that I got their attention,” Boland said, “but it really doesn’t have anything to do with my bill, which is about democracy.