When voters in the city of Los Angeles confront their ballots for the November election, they’ll see a stack of charter amendments and a tax increase staring back at them.
Let’s get to the tax increase first.
Initiative Ordinance FD is another sales tax increase of another one-half percent, jacking the rate up to 10.75%. FD is an initiative sponsored by the firefighters’ union, and courts have ruled that “citizens’ initiative tax increases” don’t need the constitutionally required two-thirds vote to pass special (earmarked) taxes. If voters approve Proposition 43 in November, the court-created exception will end, but FD would get in under the wire. The city could and should fully fund the fire department without a tax increase, with the right priorities.
Also on the city ballot is Proposition TE, which allows Palisades fire victims to sell their damaged or destroyed properties without having to pay the city’s sketchy ULA tax of 4% to 5.5% of the sale price. Yes to that.
Now to the charter amendments. A city charter is a local constitution, and amendments need voter approval. “Charter cities” have more autonomy from state control than “general law” cities, theoretically. Here are my recommendations on the L.A. city charter amendments.
No on Charter Amendment LA – Makes structural changes that reduce accountability under the guise of adopting multi-year planning. Lets the City Council abolish the Board of Public Works, which holds public meetings to review large contracts, and consolidate power under one appointed director. Also removes the current ban on mortgaging city-owned property. That won’t end well.
No on Charter Amendment PL – Replaces the city’s seven local Area Planning Commissions with one citywide commission and allows the City Council to impose higher housing density by simply passing an ordinance.
No on Charter Amendment EE – Makes it much harder to qualify a referendum (the method by which voters can reject a city ordinance enacted by the government). Also cuts the number of City Council meeting days from three per week to just one. Council members make more than $244,000 per year to do that job. They should show up for it.
No on Charter Amendment PRK – Increases the charter’s allocation of property tax revenue to the Parks and Recreation department from 0.0325% of assessed property value to 0.065%, phased in over ten years, with a loophole to allow the City Council to reduce the extra amount in a declared “fiscal emergency.” But the parks have been robbed of their charter-mandated share of funding by the City Council, which decided during the Great Recession to start charging the parks department for utilities, sanitation and other costs. End the theft, no need for a charter amendment.
Yes on Charter Amendment PRT –Requires three Airport Commissioners to live near LAX and two near Van Nuys Airport, to increase understanding of airport impacts. Authorizes 66-year leases (up from 50) for Airports and LADWP, and diverts some Harbor revenue for public-access waterfront projects.
No on Charter Amendment SC – Removes supposedly duplicative language in the city charter related to campaign finance rules for Board of Education candidates. This would enable the City Council to pass an ordinance later that changes the campaign finance rules for school board races.
On the L.A. County charter amendments:
No on Measure A – Creates a binding arbitration process for public safety employee unions, including firefighters, deputy sheriffs and others. If contract negotiations stall, three arbitrators (one selected by the county, one by the union, one jointly) would vote to choose one side’s final offer, winner take all. This lets elected officials avoid hard votes and almost guarantees that unaffordably high contract demands will be imposed on taxpayers.
No on Measure E – In the wake of riots in 2020, voters approved Measure J to provide 10% of unrestricted county general fund revenue, now hundreds of millions of dollars a year, to “community programs and alternatives to incarceration.” This was accidentally removed from the county charter by 2024’s Measure G, and this measure restores it. But Measure J was a reckless amount of money diverted to NGOs and community groups in a moment of panic over riots, in the middle of a panic over COVID. Let it go.
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