{"id":437673,"date":"2024-08-30T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-30T07:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/calmatters.org\/?p=437673"},"modified":"2024-08-30T10:03:58","modified_gmt":"2024-08-30T17:03:58","slug":"los-angeles-county-and-san-francisco-government","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/calmatters.org\/_ko\/commentary\/2024\/08\/los-angeles-county-and-san-francisco-government\/","title":{"rendered":"In Los Angeles County and San Francisco, government reform is on the ballot"},"content":{"rendered":"

In long-term impact, the most significant measure on California\u2019s Nov. 5 ballot may be one that, if passed, would overhaul governance in Los Angeles County<\/a>, home to a quarter of the state\u2019s nearly 40 million residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proposition would expand the county Board of Supervisors from five to nine members and make the county executive, now appointed by the board, an elected position with substantial authority \u2014 essentially a county mayor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt’s time to expand the board so it is more representative of the beautiful diversity of Los Angeles County,\u201d Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, one of the proposal\u2019s originators, said during one of the board\u2019s extensive debates on the issue. Horvath, Janice Hahn and Hilda Solis voted to place the measure on the ballot while Kathryn Barger and Holly Mitchell said the idea needed more study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The five-member board now wields virtually all governing authority<\/a> in a county that\u2019s more populous than most states. The measure would apportion legislative power among more elected officials while creating an executive position that arguably would be second only to the governor in power and prestige.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the recipe for improving governance in Los Angeles is more diffusion, in San Francisco it may be more consolidation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Superficially, the City and County of San Francisco is governed by an elected mayor and an 11-member Board of Supervisors \u2014 roughly the same structure that the Los Angeles ballot measure would adopt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, much of the real power in San Francisco is in the hands of more than 100 boards, commissions and advisory bodies that supposedly oversee the city\u2019s bureaucracies and\/or wield direct authority over particular issues, one being development projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For years, reformers have declared that the structure is essentially a mechanism for making it extraordinarily difficult, and sometimes impossible, to get anything meaningful done<\/a> in the city while subjecting ordinary San Franciscans to a Kafkaesque nightmare of bureaucratic footdragging<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In June San Francisco\u2019s civil grand jury, in a report titled \u201cCommission Impossible?”<\/a> counted 115 commissions, saying that it had to assemble the list on its own because it\u2019s nowhere to be found in City Hall. The grand jury recommended creating one more commission that would recommend which of the 115 should be retained and which should be abolished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe rich irony of recommending a new commission to reduce the number of commissions is not lost on us,” the grand jury conceded. \u201cThe system needs significant reform which includes fewer commissions, centralized oversight, consistent standards, and performance assessments.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\t\n\t\t

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Los Angeles County supervisors look to rare reforms that would dilute their power<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tby<\/span> Dan Walters<\/a><\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/article>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\n

\u201cIn true San Francisco fashion, however, even proposed solutions to this problem are dysfunctional,\u201d San Francisco Chronicle columnist Emily Hoeven <\/a>\u2013 a former colleague at CalMatters.org \u2013 noted. “Instead of our leaders coming together to fix things, they\u2019re forcing voters to do the dirty work of choosing between two complicated, competing commission streamlining ballot measures<\/a> in November.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Proposition D, sponsored by an ideologically moderate group called TogetherSF Action, would retain 22 commissions dealing with vital public services, such as those overseeing the airport, planning and police, but the other nearly 100 would be abolished unless specifically renewed with a cap of 65 bodies. It also would strip legislative and rule-making power from commissions, making them advisory bodies, and strengthen the mayor\u2019s role in appointing commission members and overseeing city departments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Proposition E, backed by four of the most left-leaning members of the Board of Supervisors, would establish a task force to recommend ways to \u201cmodify, eliminate or combine\u201d boards and commissions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The civic and political leaders of Los Angeles County and San Francisco are at least trying to improve their governance systems. Maybe it will rub off on the antiquated structure of California\u2019s state government.<\/p>\n\n\n\t\n\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\tMore on government reform<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\ub17c\ud3c9<\/a>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

Californians demand government transparency. Virtual meetings keep powerful boards out of view<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Los Angeles County entertains governmental reform<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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