L.A. City Council Warms to Elected Charter Panel

What a difference an election makes.

Six months ago, the Los Angeles City Council tried to kill Mayor Richard Riordan’s efforts to create an elected citizens panel that would rewrite the 72-year-old City Charter.

Most council members feared that the elected panel would be controlled by Riordan cronies who would want to increase the mayor’s authority at the council’s expense.

In fact, they were so fearful they created a competing 21-member appointed reform panel to study the charter.

But now that the elected panel has been sworn in and is scheduled to begin work Monday, the council is considering tapping city coffers to fund its work.

Why the change of heart?

Most council members say they feel obligated to fund the work because it was overwhelmingly supported by voters.

But the council may no longer feel threatened because voters rejected most of Riordan’s handpicked candidates for the panel.

Instead, voters elected a 15-member panel whose majority was endorsed by powerful city labor unions, many of which have close ties to the council.

Now, the nasty back and forth sniping between the City Council and Riordan over the charter reform effort has been replaced by an atmosphere of cooperation.

“One message we need to send loud and clear is that we do support what they do,” Councilman Richard Alarcon said of the panel.

At least one council member finds the change in attitude confusing.

“I’m just trying to decide if it’s Alice in Wonderland time,” said Councilwoman Rita Walters, who opposed Riordan’s elected panel and criticized a proposal to use city funding to bankroll it.

The charter reform effort was launched last summer due to threats of a San Fernando Valley secession. Calling secession an extreme solution, Riordan and the council both argued that a better alternative would be to rewrite the 680-page charter, which acts as a blueprint for the city bureaucracy.

Although Riordan said he has yet to secure the $2 million needed to fund the elected panel’s work, the mayor and his supporters say he will not back away from his promise to find the money.

“Believe me, there is money out there,” said David Fleming, a Studio City attorney who teamed up with Riordan to help create the panel. “There is a lot of interest from a lot of nonprofits who want to make sure this city is restructured.”

Despite such assurances, several council members now argue that the city should fund Riordan’s elected panel so that it will not feel obligated to Riordan or his private contributors.

“You owe the people of this city the right to have an independent commission funded by them, the taxpayers,” said Councilman Nate Holden, an ardent Riordan critic who introduced a motion to fund the elected panel.

Most council members agreed that the city should at least contribute to the elected panel. But they have not been able to agree on how much or when to provide the money.

After a lengthy debate, the council voted to hold off any decision until the elected panel meets, creates a budget and decides whether it wants to accept any city money.

“We are having a very interesting debate about what they ought to do,” said Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg. “I think we should ask them what they want to do.”

It appears that even among the elected panel there is no clear consensus.

One elected charter commissioner said privately: “I don’t know which is worse, taking private money or taking public money.”

Paula Boland, one of the few elected panel members who was endorsed by Riordan, said she is opposed to accepting city money because Riordan campaigned on a promise that the panel would be privately funded.

“The people are tired of voting for things just to have them changed,” she said.

Boland, an ex-assemblywoman, said accepting city funds would give council members the impression they can control the panel.

She said she would not feel compromised by accepting money from Riordan or private contributors. “If private donors were to give money, I wouldn’t pay much attention to who it was,” she said.

Rob Glushon, another elected charter commissioner, said he has spoken to several other commissioners who feel uneasy about relying solely on funding from Riordan and private contributors.

Panel member Nick Pacheco said he would “have no problem” accepting money from the council.

But he said the matter is complicated by the fact that Riordan promised that the panel would not draw upon taxpayer money.