Activists Debate New City Charter

Debating the very future of Los Angeles, charter reform commissioner George Kieffer and Valley civic leader Bill Powers clashed Tuesday over whether the city would be a better place to live if a new City Charter is approved by voters June 8.

At a forum sponsored by the Studio City Residents Assn., Kieffer said the proposed new charter is a vast improvement over the city’s current, 75-year-old constitution.

“We did a lot of things to streamline government to do things better and to hold government more accountable,” said Kieffer, who was chairman of the city’s appointed Charter Reform Commission.

Addressing 70 homeowner activists and others at the CBS Studio Center, Kieffer said the new charter would make city government more efficient, responsive and accessible to residents.

Under the new charter, the mayor would have more power to fire city managers, said Kieffer, a Brentwood resident and partner at the Century City law firm of Manatt, Phelps and Phillips.

The new charter would also create a network of advisory neighborhood councils and area planning commissions throughout the city for more localized discussion of city issues.

However, the new charter does not do enough to decentralize the power currently lodged at City Hall, said Powers, a director of the United Chambers of Commerce of the San Fernando Valley.

Powers and former Assemblywoman Paula Boland of Granada Hills have formed a campaign group called The Not This Charter Coalition. Boland, who was scheduled to debate Kieffer, could not attend because of illness.

Powers said the proposal to create a system of neighborhood councils is a farce that would not provide local empowerment.

“What this charter has done is, it’s centralized the power, mostly in the mayor’s office,” Powers said. “It provides no budget; it provides no election” for neighborhood councils, he said.

With less than a month before Charter Measure 1 will be decided, Tuesday’s debate was one of the few recent public airings of differences over the complicated document.

Most civic activists agree that some charter reform is necessary but differ over whether the proposed document goes far enough in overhauling City Hall, said Tony Lucente, president of the Studio City Residents Assn., a group representing 2,000 households.

“It is important to people in Los Angeles, particularly in this area, because a lot of people think government is unresponsive to the needs of people,” Lucente said. “Charter reform is an alternative.”

But Kieffer said the reforms are the result of two years of work by the elected and appointed commissions and a compromise that has been backed by a broad array of civic leaders, including 32 of the 35 charter commissioners.

“Is this charter better than what we have?” he asked in an interview before the debate. “You bet. Only a small group of naysayers on the fringe are picking at small parts of the charter.”

However, opposition is beginning to organize.

City Council members who oppose the proposed charter met Tuesday morning with a number of city lobbyists in an attempt to kick off their campaign to defeat the proposal, which was mailed last week to residents.

Steve Afriat, a political consultant working with the charter opponents, said after the meeting that it was a positive, productive session. He declined to comment on who attended the private gathering and would not say what was discussed.

Council members Hal Bernson, Rita Walters, Jackie Goldberg, Rudy Svorinich Jr. and Ruth Galanter are among those discussing a possible opposition campaign.

One of those who attended the opposition meeting Tuesday was City Council President John Ferraro, a move that surprised some observers because Ferraro previously had expressed support for the charter.

The councilman was unavailable for comment, but others speculated that Ferraro may be feeling pressure from some of his council colleagues who adamantly oppose the proposal.

Ferraro depends on support from a majority of the 15-member council to retain his presidency.

“I’d be very disappointed if he decided to oppose the charter,” said Erwin Chemerinsky, chairman of the city’s elected charter commission. “I’m also cognizant of the fact that he wants to remain as council president, and if a majority of council members oppose the charter, that would put tremendous pressure on him.”

Times staff writer Jim Newton contributed to this story.