Reforming City Hall

Ethics

Ethics should not be a political issue. The Ethics Commission has done a good job of working as independently as possible, but its ability to push policy is limited. It should be an independent body capable of setting its own reasonable staffing levels and work with a set budget commensurate with a necessary flow of work. When I was an Ethics Commissioner, I recommended a string of policies, informed by the public and crafted by ethics staff, that may or not have been enacted after it left our desks.

The Ethics Department also needs more people to effectively regulate Los Angeles. Before the Great Recession, the Ethics Department had about 30 full time staff. While it’s almost back to pre-recessionary staffing levels, the Department is still under-staffed. 

Throughout my time as an Ethics Commissioner, I worked on a single premise: How do we restore confidence in a system stained with corruption? Commissioners and Commission staff regularly engaged in conversations about what steps we needed to take to prevent unethical activity in government and mechanisms to hold people responsible for minor lapses before snowballing into major violations. Their audits are frequently what trigger an investigation into things like laundering, embezzlement, and misreporting. 

The department lacks the capability to fully monitor its expansive portfolio, given their staffing limitations and outdated governance policies. Angelenos deserve real reform. We shouldn’t have to wait for another FBI probe to restore faith in our democracy. It’s not enough to talk about what’s broken. We need bold action that leads to real solutions, and we need it now. That can start with a more empowered Ethics Department.

Independent Redistricting

I support efforts to bring more independence and transparency to our government, and having an independent redistricting commission is one major step we can take to do that. To me, this is a no-brainer and a long overdue policy that will allow for community input and power to be more decentralized, which will lead to a more fair, open, and equitable process. 

Size of the Council

The City Council needs to increase in size to ensure that we are meeting the needs of all constituents. We’ve had the same number of City Council members since 1925, when the population of L.A. was one quarter of what it is today. But any plan to grow the City Council needs to be paired both with an eye toward keeping neighborhoods within Council districts and a plan on how we can make sure City departments and any extra Council staff can keep pace with that growth. 311 service requests and the work done by City departments need to keep up with any increase in staffing among additional Council District offices. Right now, 15 councilmembers for 4 million Angelenos, or roughly 250,000 residents per one councilmember, is simply too small a governing body that must grow in size to adequately meet the needs of all constituents.  

In order for us to truly meet the needs of Angelenos, we must look at best practices across the country to identify how cities have expanded their councils in recent history. That could be paired with some level of Charter reform, something that last occurred in the City decades ago. This is needed to evaluate what we’re doing, how we’re doing, and what new reforms and changes are needed.