Charter Panel Gets Cool Reception

A proposed face lift of Los Angeles city government, which would increase the size of the City Council and give the mayor more power to shape the city government, received a subdued response Wednesday night in the San Fernando Valley, home of some of the most ardent critics of downtown city government and proponents of Valley secession.

The appointed charter commission chose the Northridge Recreation Center gymnasium to spell out its recommendations for a more responsive, efficient city government. The tame presentation and discussion was a sharp contrast to the caustic debate being generated by the commission’s elected counterpart, whose reforms have pitted Valley activists against powerful Los Angeles business leaders.

The appointed commission, whose members were chosen mostly by the City Council, must submit its recommendations to the council, which will decide whether to put them on the ballot. The elected commission, which has the power to place its recommendations on the ballot, was chosen by voters. The two are independent but are striving to cooperate on charting a new course for the city.

More than 100 people attended the appointed panel’s open house, aiming the bulk of their questions and criticism at a recommendation that would create neighborhood councils with advisory power, preferring instead elected councils with more power over community affairs.

The proposal to expand the City Council from 15 to 21 members was greeted warmly, but a number of those who came were wary of a recommendation to increase the power of the mayor’s office.

“It’s not strong enough,” said Dorothy Boberg, who has lived in Northridge since 1957 and is a member of local civic association. “The neighborhood councils need more power, in the area of zoning especially.”

Wednesday’s public forum was the first foray of the commission’s citywide publicity blitz to sell the topic of government reform to the public.

Besides holding seven neighborhood sessions across the city, the commission has put up billboards featuring snappy slogans--”City Happens”--aired radio ads and distributed thousands of information packets. The next public meeting will be help Sept. 26, at the Christ the Good Shepard Episcopal Church in Leimert Park, 3303 W. Vernon Ave.

“Charter reform can’t match a lot of the stuff that’s out there today, like what’s on the movie screen or what’s going on in Washington, but people will start to pay attention after a while,” said George Kieffer, chairman of the appointed commission. “It’s hard work, but that’s why we’re here.”

Wednesday’s three-hour public forum was designed to gather public response to the commission’s 36 recommendations for charter reform, a radical overhaul of city government that would provide greater public involvement in decision making, reshape the Los Angeles Unified School District board and allow the mayor to hire and fire the city’s top managers.

Sometime next year, Los Angeles voters will probably be asked to vote on a plan to retool their city government--a massive overhaul likely to increase the mayor’s power over the city bureaucracy, and to expand the size of the City Council.

Gerald Silver of Valley VOTE, the group of Valley activists petitioning for a study and possible vote on Valley secession from Los Angeles, dismissed the work of both commissions. He said the Valley will continue to be ignored by the city government, even if the reforms are approved.

“It’s too little too late,” said Silver, who also is a member of the Homeowners of Encino.

Both commissions are also searching for a way to improve community involvement and input in city government, possibly through elected or appointed neighborhood councils.