Editorial: Yes, actually, Los Angeles needs more politicians (via latimesopinion)
the commission’s work), the fact is that the job of redistricting L.A. is nearly impossible. There’s no good way to fairly divide a city this large into 15 council districts while trying to honor the wishes of various ethnic, religious and socioeconomic groups., the commission recommended increasing the number of council districts to at least 22 to better represent communities like Watts and Thai Town and give them more say in the selection of their council members.
But why stop at 22? With 31 council members each district would represent just 130,000 residents. And by cutting council members’ annual salary in half — from about $224,000 to $112,000 — the city could manage the expansion without breaking the bank. City Atty. Mike Feuer, who is running for mayor, saidto put an expanded City Council and an independent redistricting commission on the November 2022 ballot.
It’s true that past efforts to enlarge the City Council have failed. In 1999, voters approved a new City Charter to reshape L.A. government, but they overwhelmingly rejected separate ballot measures to increase the council to 21 or 25 members. The council expansion proposals became extraordinarily controversial, said, who was director of the appointed charter reform commission.
Admittedly, this might not be the most opportune moment to urge Angelenos to go big on their local government, considering thatWould a larger City Council and smaller council districts reduce corruption? It’s hard to say. Chicago has the smallest council districts of the big U.S. cities, with 50 aldermen representing about 55,000 residents each, but it’s had more than its share of indicted politicians. Still, L.A.
Angelenos in recent years have backed major changes to L.A. government, including moving city elections to coincide with presidential and gubernatorial elections to boost voter turnout and approving the $1.2-billion Measure HHH to build homeless housing. There’s been a hunger to disrupt the status quo. And a bigger City Council would be a huge disruption — for the better.
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