Chick Calls for Diversity on City’s Commissions

City Controller Laura Chick called Wednesday for reforms of the Los Angeles commission system, demanding more diversity in appointments and greater openness by televising the meetings of panels that handle billions of dollars in city funds.

In addition, the controller said she would like to see the City Council consider whether to make the city airport, harbor, and water and power commissions full-time paid positions, because those jobs require special expertise and oversee the operations of major departments.

“I think it bears looking at,” Chick said. “Is it still relevant and appropriate and in the best interest of the public to have part-time, unpaid, nonexpert citizen volunteers running our multibillion-dollar public corporations?”

She said the lack of diversity, public oversight and expertise might have contributed to contracting decisions that are under investigation by federal and county grand juries.

The mayor appoints more than 340 commissioners. To step up pressure for change, Chick released data on the makeup of the city’s 57 commissions, showing that women and Latinos are underrepresented.

About 41% of the city’s 346 current commissioners are women, although more than half the city population is female. Chick delivered 113 resumes from women to the office of Mayor James K. Hahn and urged that the applicants be considered for future appointments. The applications came from a summit Chick convened in June to help women get involved in city government.

Latinos constitute 21% of the commissioners, although they made up 46.5% of the city population in the 2000 census.

Data show that 41% of the commissioners are white and 16% are African American, although whites made up 29.7% and African Americans 11% of the population in the last census.

“The commissions in the city of Los Angeles have, for way too long, underrepresented who and what this city is all about -- have underrepresented women, people of color, people from a variety of council districts in this city and people who are less than wealthy,” Chick said.

As the first woman elected to a citywide office, Chick decried the lack of women on important “muscle” commissions, noting that only one of the seven airport commissioners is a woman and only one of the five harbor commissioners is a woman. Two of the five Department of Water and Power commissioners are women.

The data, to be posted on the city website in three weeks and regularly updated, also show a disparity in geography.

Only five commissioners come from the City Council’s 6th District, which covers the central and east San Fernando Valley; 58 commissioners come from the 5th District, which includes affluent areas of West Los Angeles.

Deputy Mayor Julie Wong said the mayor welcomes more resumes from people interested in being commissioners.

“He has worked really hard to make sure there is diversity on city commissions,” Wong said. She did not provide information showing how diversity has improved since Hahn took office.

To improve public access to the commissions, Chick said she is joining City Councilmen Jack Weiss and Antonio Villaraigosa in proposing that meetings of the harbor, airport, redevelopment and water and power commissions be televised.

Wong said the mayor is open to the idea, but would want to make sure the cost is reasonable.

Hahn is less receptive to the idea of making some city commissions full-time jobs.

“The mayor has worked really hard to make government run more efficiently,” Wong said. “He disagrees that we should be spending more money hiring top-level managers.”

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L.A. commissioners

The racial/ethnic and gender breakdown of the 346 members of the city’s 57 commissions as of Aug. 26:

By race/ethnicity: White 41% Latino 21% African American 16% Asian 8% Other 4% Not available 10%

By gender: Men 56% Women 41% Not available 3%