Effective Date of Proposed City Charter Still Undecided

Faced with an uncertain political landscape, leaders of the two commissions charged with overhauling the Los Angeles city charter again postponed action Saturday on the single most controversial item still before them: the proposed effective date of the document. That issue had been scheduled to be decided by a special charter drafting committee Saturday, but the chairs of the elected and appointed commissions said they needed more time.

Their decision Saturday to delay a vote comes one day after City Council President John Ferraro canceled a scheduled Monday council session to vote on the charter. That move, combined with continued grumbling from some council members about the charter proposal, has fueled speculation that the council may reject the draft charter or send it to voters with grave reservations.

Some key City Hall insiders, including Chief Legislative Analyst Ron Deaton and Mayor Richard Riordan’s chief of staff, Kelly Martin, are scheduled to hash over details on Monday. If they can reach agreement on remaining issues in the document, especially its effective date, that might clear the way for the two commissions to complete their long-sought compromise.

The City Council has until March 5 to decide whether to put the charter on the June ballot. The council’s vote is in some ways academic, however, since the city’s elected commission can put its work on the ballot with or without the council’s approval. Should the council refuse to endorse the compromise package, it also might face the possibility that the elected commission would then reopen debate on a few hotly contested issues and change them in ways that would further antagonize the council.

One possibility: The elected commission could strike a provision that requires future redistricting commissions to report their work to the council and replace it with language establishing an independent redistricting group.