Commission Buoys Hopes for Unified Charter Plan

In a move that keeps the hopes for a unified City Charter proposal alive but uncertain, Los Angeles’ appointed charter reform commission voted 12-1 Wednesday to refer a proposed compromise package to a special conference committee.

That course was urged by the appointed panel’s chairman, George Kieffer, and endorsed by Mayor Richard Riordan, who made a rare appearance before the commission. The mayor spoke in favor of a proposed compromise reached this week by members of the city’s other charter commission, the elected panel.

“I 100% support the resolution passed by the elected charter commission,” Riordan said. “I applaud their reach to have a unified charter at this time.”

That represented a significant shift for the mayor, who initially opposed a unified package but backed off after it became clear that a majority of the elected commission no longer was prepared to reject some attempt at unity. Riordan spoke from notes Wednesday, rambling slightly and misspeaking occasionally as he fought off flu symptoms. However, his endorsement of the latest compromise effort was welcomed by some members of the appointed panel.

Yet, even with the mayor now on board, the prospects for such a package surviving the next two weeks remain unclear. Even as they supported the move to refer the latest deal to committee, some members of the appointed panel grumbled about conditions attached by their colleagues on the elected commission.

What is clear is that the process needs to move quickly. The appointed commission has promised the City Council that it will complete its proposal by the end of January, meaning that any compromise needs to be finished next week.

Rivalries between the two commissions have long simmered, but they have bubbled to the surface in recent days, as each group struggles to advance its version of a new City Charter. Under the deal proposed by the elected commission, voters would be presented with one largely unified charter proposal in June. In addition, voters would be allowed to choose a few options to that charter, measures that would expand the City Council from 15 to 25 members, allow the mayor to fire city department heads without council intervention and create a citywide network of elected neighborhood councils.

Each of those options would replace the unified charter’s provisions on the issues, if voters approved them by greater margins than the charter itself.

Some members of the appointed commission dislike those options, but they can do little to stop the elected commission from going ahead with them because the elected commission can place its proposals directly on the ballot.

Where the appointed commission’s approval is needed, however, is in the main body of the charter, assuming that both sides remain committed to presenting a unified document. There again, the elected commission has attached conditions to its support, and on Wednesday, several appointed commissioners complained about those conditions and about their counterparts’ insistence upon them.

“They gave a slap in the face to us,” Commissioner Andrew Friedman said. “We were all offended by that.”

Others commissioners were similarly peeved, and a few urged their representatives on the conference committee to use the upcoming negotiation as an opportunity to convince the elected commission to back down rather than to find middle ground.

It is that dynamic that makes it difficult to guess where the latest attempt at a compromise will end. If the conference committee removes or modifies the conditions imposed by the elected panel, that commission might still reject the compromise; if the committee agrees to those conditions, it risks rejection by the appointed commission.

Despite those obstacles, Kieffer and elected commission Chairman Erwin Chemerinsky, both of whom support a unified charter, expressed optimism in the wake of Wednesday’s vote.

“I’m pleased we’re moving forward,” Kieffer said. “I’m optimistic that we will be able to reach a conclusion.”

Chemerinsky said: “I’m delighted that the appointed commission did not reject the changes proposed by the elected commission. It makes complete sense to send it to the conference committee. I think we really are on the path to a unified charter.”