On July 2, the council voted 11-3 to approve a proposed ballot measure. On July 15, Bass broke out her veto pen.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass congratulates Dominic Choi after she swore him in as chief of police on Friday, March 1, 2024. The Los Angeles City Council returns from its month-long summer recess on Tuesday and could at least begin consideration of overriding Mayor Karen Bass’ recent veto of a proposed ballot measure that would change the disciplinary process for LAPD officers — including expanding the chief’s powers to fire officers for misconduct.
On July 15, Bass vetoed the council’s approval of placing the ballot measure on the November ballot, but the 15-member council can reverse the veto by lassoing 10 votes in favor of an override. According to Tuesday’s agenda, council members may look to continue the override question until Aug. 14 — which would actually leave the proposal off the November ballot, as there is an Aug. 9 deadline to consolidate ballot measures for the upcoming Election Day. An override on Tuesday would mean that voters could decide on the proposal this November. But if the council does continue the item, or fails to override, voters would not get another chance to weigh in until 2026, if at all. The ballot proposal — spearheaded by Councilmember Tim McOsker — would expand the chief’s ability to fire officers for serious misconduct, and also change the composition of the department’s Board of Rights. Currently, the chief can only recommend that an officer be terminated — but ultimately the decision is left to the Board of Rights, a three-member panel that serves as a quasi-judicial body. The new proposal would allow the chief to fire officers outright for engaging in sexual misconduct, fraud, excessive force or abuse on duty, among other violations. The proposal would also change the makeup of the Board of Rights from two sworn officers and one civilian member to one sworn officer and two civilian members. And it would repeal an option that gives officers facing disciplinary action the right to request an all-civilian Board of Rights panel. On July 2, the council voted 11-3 to approve the proposed ballot measure, with Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson absent during the vote. Council members Hugo Soto-Martinez, Nithya Raman and Eunisses Hernandez voted against it.In a letter to the council at the time, Bass said the proposed measure would create “bureaucratic confusion” and result in “ambiguous direction and gaps.” “I look forward to working with each of you to do a thorough and comprehensive review with officers, the department, and other stakeholders to ensure fairness for all. The current system remains until this collaborative review is complete and can be placed before the voters,” Bass added. In a statement to City News Service last month, McOsker called the mayor’s veto a “discouraging surprise.” “As an author of this motion … I had not received a call regarding any concerns about this ballot measure from the Mayor or her office,” McOsker said. “Questions or concerns about ‘creating bureaucratic confusion’ due to ‘ambiguous direction and gaps in guidance’ could have been easily addressed. “The people should be allowed to decide whether or not this ballot measure deserves to pass,” he added. “Instead, voters would have the opportunity taken from them by this 11th-hour veto, so close to the November ballot process and during our legislative body’s recess.” In June, as part of the council’s deliberations on the proposal, LAPD leadership warned the measure would create a two-tier disciplinary system in which some officers would be fired by the chief and others would face Board of Rights hearings. Two members of the L.A. Board of Police Commissioners, which oversees the LAPD, previously criticized the proposal. Commissioner Rasha Gerges Shield took issue with establishing binding arbitration and described it as “controversial” to resolve disciplinary cases. Commissioner Maria Calanche expressed frustration in that the board “couldn’t weigh in.”The Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union representing the department’s rank-and-file, initially approved of the proposal. But in a later statement, the LAPPL Board of Directors reversed its support. “The mayor recognizes that our discipline system … is broken and needs to be fixed, we agree and we are evaluating the best path forward to creating a fair and impartial system that treats command staff in the same manner as police officers,” the statement read.Among them will be considering recommendations related to implementing the Healthy Streets LA initiative, which was approved by voters in March. Voters approved Measure HLA — an initiative requiring the installation of various street modifications aimed at making roads safer for pedestrians and bicyclists — with a majority vote of 65.5%. The measure will require the city to implement modifications described in its Mobility Plan 2025 whenever certain street improvements are made to at least one-eighth of a mile of roadway. It will also require the city to create a website so the public can follow the progress of Mobility Plan projects.LA police find body in Metro Red Line tunnel near North HollywoodSpaceX moving Dragon recovery to Long Beach in 2025, city declaresTeen groped by unruly passenger aboard LAX flight sues Delta for negligenceI tried Speedo’s Olympic swimsuit. It’s fast in the pool, but takes forever to put on‘He’s a straight-up rancher’: Chicago twins who cooperated against Sinaloa cartel talk about arrest of ‘El Mayo’Massachusetts attorney says Cape Cod residents’ fear of migrants in shelter proposal is unfounded ‘My entire childhood was taken from me’: Advocates push for ban on child marriage after bill stalls in statehouse
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