City Divided in Efforts to Fix Charter

Mayor Richard Riordan and the Los Angeles City Council have broken off attempts to unite behind a single plan for reforming city government, setting the stage for the creation of two competing efforts vying for public support.

Riordan aides and key council members said Friday that weeks of negotiations to unify behind a single citizens group that would recommend reforms have failed because of disputes over how much authority the group would have.

Because of the dispute, Riordan and Studio City attorney David Fleming will continue to pursue a petition drive to create an elected panel while the council will soon wrap up the formation of an appointed panel.

Both panels will consider rewriting the 71-year-old governing charter that many officials agree is too antiquated to address the problems of a large, modern city.

The reform movement--the latest of several attempts in the past 20 years--is fueled by threats of a San Fernando Valley secession.

Councilman Mike Feuer, a leading supporter of charter reform, said he has tried to no avail to get both sides to endorse the formation of one group.

“I have talked to my colleagues and the mayor and the odds [of a compromise] are slim,” he said. “It poorly serves the people of Los Angeles to have reform move on two tracks because the focus turns to the debate between the mayor and the council.”

Council President John Ferraro, who also attempted to broker a compromise, said there have been no recent talks to try to reach an agreement.

At the crux of the dispute is the question of how much authority to give the panel. Last month the council voted to create a 21-member appointed panel to propose charter reform measures. But under that plan, the council has final say on which ideas make it to the ballot for voter approval.

Riordan and Fleming have argued that true reform can only come from a panel that is independent of the council, especially because of the major issues at hand is whether to reduce the extensive power of the council. If the petition drive is successful, voters will be asked to create a 15-member panel with the authority to put reform ideas directly on the ballot.

As of this week, a Riordan-funded petition drive has collected more than 155,000 of the 197,000 signatures needed to qualify for the April 1997 ballot.

Meanwhile, the reform panel backed by the council is close to being formed. So far, the appointments include UCLA political scientist Xandra Kayden, former County Supervisor Ed Edelman, NAACP leader Jose De Sosa, Rebuild LA President Linda Griego, UCLA Vice Chancellor Joseph Mandel and community leader Sharon Schuster.

Under the council plan, the council members, the city attorney and the city controller each receive one appointment to the panel. Ferraro has two appointments and Riordan gets three.

As of Friday, Ferraro and Riordan had yet to make their appointments. Riordan officials have said the mayor is most likely not going to make any appointments to the council panel because of his support for his competing plan.

Meanwhile, Riordan’s plan hit a snag this week when Assistant City Atty. Tony Alperin issued a legal opinion that raises questions about the legality of a citywide vote to elect members of the charter reform panel.

Alperin said further studies were needed to determine whether a citywide vote violates federal election laws by diluting the vote of minority groups. The problem could be resolved if each candidate for the panel were elected by councilmanic district. But it is unclear whether such a change can be made at this point.

Riordan and City Atty. James K. Hahn met Thursday to try to resolve the legal questions but reached no decisions.