The start of the first reform of Los Angeles County governance in more than 100 years officially has begun, with the Board of Supervisors coming together late Tuesday, Nov. 26 after months of in fighting, approving steps to implement the massive changes from voter-approved Measure G.
The board unanimously approved a structure for the Governance Reform Task Force, which will lead the roll out of numerous changes, including adding four new supervisors to make a total of nine, electing a county executive officer for the first time in history, adding rules for budget hearings, earlier agendas, a new ethics commission and much more.
“Measure G focused on the what. Now, it is time to focus on the how,” said Second District Supervisor Holly Mitchell, who opposed the measure and campaigned against it, saying it would cost millions for taxpayers and was rushed. The measure passed with 52% of the vote in the Nov. 5 election.
Saying the voters had spoken, Mitchell dropped her competing motion to form the reform task force and gave way to the implementation motion put forth by Third District Supervisor and co-author of Measure G, Lindsey Horvath, with some amendments Horvath gladly accepted that were incorporated into the final action.
“Nothing like this has ever happened before, at least not since 1912. Our board unanimously came together and took the first step in implementing historic reforms to Los Angeles County’s governance structure,” Horvath said.
Mitchell said it was critical to form the task force that will be in charge of making the changes and drawing out public input from residents of all racial, ethnic and vocational backgrounds in the county. “All of the responsibility of carrying out Measure G was placed in the hands of this task force,” she said.
The Governance Reform Task Force will have 13 members. Of those, each supervisor will appoint one member. Those five will then vote to add five more members, who will reflect the diversity of the county. Those additional five members must include at least two residents from unincorporated areas and no more than two from the same supervisorial district. The five will include representatives of the business sector, municipal government and community-based organizations.
“We are thankful you are including local governments in the process,” said Marcel Rodarte, executive director of the California Contract Cities Association.
The final three on the task force will be appointed by labor organizations, one each from the following: Los Angeles County Federation of Labor; SEIU Local 721 (representing county employees); and the Coalition of County Unions. No other members of the task force can be representatives of labor.
Also added by Mitchell is a clause that says anyone recommended to serve should identify funding sources to cover their costs: “Recommendations may only utilize existing county funding sources and cannot result in any additional cost to, or taxes imposed on taxpayers.”
The county’s reform package would launch in 2026, creating a County Ethics Commission, followed by the election of a county executive officer in 2028. The new task force in charge of Measure G reforms will be in place sometime in the spring.
In short, the task force will be charged with the following:
• Ensuring that all proposed county motions be publicly posted for a minimum of five days before action by the board. This usually means by Wednesday, for the Tuesday meeting.
• Creating a structure for a new independent ethics commission, with help from the County Counsel’s Office and public input. The commission should begin meeting by 2026.
• Helping appoint a county legislative officer, a director of budget and management and budgets for both.
• A staffing and budget proposal for the new nine-member Board of Supervisors. Expanding the number of seats will follow the 2030 U.S. Census and take place during elections starting in 2032. New supervisor districts would have to be redrawn before the election, a process that could become controversial.
• A proposal and timeline for establishing a Charter Review Commission to meet at least every 10 years to review the county’s new governance structure.
Many constituents from Michell’s District 2, which includes South Los Angeles, were also opposed. Most of the concerns were over how nine districts will be carved out.
“I am very concerned about how this measure will impact the representation of my community,” said Ron Collins, with the Los Angeles Black Worker Center.
Board watcher Eric Preven, of Studio City, didn’t like the process of pushing through major reforms and with appointments to the task force being nominated through the holidays. “I don’t think the public understands the ramifications of all that. It is very confusing,” he said on Wednesday.
The public may notice the first changes from the reform measures relating to the next county budget. A new budget review will start in mid-2025, with department heads laying out their spending one by one for public comment, instead of one single look at the final document with the public getting only a minute to speak.