Council Creates Trust Fund for Charter Reform Panel

One day after a citizens commission asked for help to finance its efforts in rewriting the city’s governing charter, the Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday to create a trust fund for the panel.

The 15-member panel that was created by voters in April estimates it needs about $1.6 million to fund its two-year budget. The trust fund will serve as the panel’s general budget account and will accept public and private contributions.

The commission did not ask the council for a specific amount but several council members said Tuesday they are willing to provide whatever amount is needed.

“I would assume that we are going to be allocating as much as they ask for,” Councilman Mike Feuer said.

The citizens reform panel also vowed to use its “best efforts” to try to raise private funds in the future to reimburse the city for whatever contributions it makes.

The 8-3 vote of the commission to accept city funding culminated weeks of feuding among members over how to finance its operation.

Opponents of the motion included panel member Rob Glushon, an attorney who said he campaigned on the promise to only use private donations to fund its work.

“I made a commitment to voters in my district and I feel I have to keep that commitment,” he said.

But others, such as USC law professor Erwin Chemerinsky, have said there is not enough time in the next two years to solicit private contributions and rewrite the 700-page charter at the same time.

Panel member Marcos Castaneda, an aide to City Councilman Richard Alarcon, agreed with Chemerinsky, saying the ballot measure that created the panel never promised to operate solely on private funds.

“We couldn’t find any specifics that said we shall not take city money,” he said.

Bill Weinberger, another panel member, said he too supported the measure to accept city money because of the deadline pressure.

“We really need to get started with our work,” he said. “We need to get some funds in our coffers.”

Mayor Richard Riordan, who led and largely funded the campaign to create the panel, has vowed to collect private contributions for the commission’s work, including $300,000 from his own pocket, so that it can operate without taxpayer expense.

Despite the council vote, a spokeswoman for Riordan reiterated the mayor’s commitment to collect private contributions.

David Fleming, a Studio City attorney who helped Riordan campaign for the charter commission, said he has no objections to using taxpayer funds so long as the panel reimburses the city.

The charter reform effort was launched last summer in response to threats of a San Fernando Valley secession. But Riordan and the City Council disagreed on how best to rewrite the charter, which acts as the city’s constitution.

The council worried that the millionaire mayor would use his considerable wealth to bankroll his own slate of candidates to the panel.

Therefore, the City Council voted to appoint and fund a separate 21-member panel to rewrite the charter. That panel has been working since November, using a $1.4-million budget allocated by the council.