Measure G supporters declared victory this week, winning with about 51% support. The Los Angeles County Charter changes didn’t get as much attention as other high-profile policies on the ballot, but don’t get me wrong. This shaky governance reform package could be the most transformative decision county voters have made in decades.
By 2026, the county will have its first ethics commission to regulate conflicts of interest and lobbying and investigate misconduct by elected officials and county employees. This is a long-awaited move for a government with a $45 billion budget and 100,000 employees. A recent investigation sparked by a federal corruption case against former Superintendent Mark Ridley Thomas found serious flaws in the county’s contracting process, leading investigators to recommend a new ethics and compliance officer and Other measures have been taken to prevent conflicts of interest.
Additionally, in 2028, voters will elect an executive to lead county government. The position of de facto county head has also been long awaited. For more than a century, L.A. County has been governed by a five-member Board of Supervisors, which was fine when there were more cows than people in the area. However, the county currently has a population and geographic area larger than many states. Imagine trying to run New Jersey with a five-member legislature without a governor.
An independently elected chief executive can manage the department and make decisions, and is clearly accountable to the public. That should incentivize progress on long-standing needs such as closing the dangerously dilapidated Men’s Central Prison and diverting eligible inmates to rehabilitation facilities. Addressing issues in the child welfare system. Providing appropriate substance abuse and mental health treatment.
And in 2032, nine members will be elected to the Board of Supervisors, which should provide greater representation of the county’s geographic, political and ethnic diversity. For example, Director Kathryn Berger’s District 5 currently stretches from Los Feliz to Lancaster. Understanding and acting on behalf of a community with such diverse needs is an impossible task.
Once a county executive is established, supervisors’ jobs will also change. The board is primarily responsible for serving the unincorporated areas of the county, enacting legislation, and pursuing administrative accountability.
This should ensure a better and more transparent government. Countless failures and inefficiencies went unnoticed because the county lacked even the most basic checks and balances essential to a democracy.
This is a monumental change for Los Angeles County that good government advocates, including the Times editorial board, have been calling for for years. Four times since 1962, voters have rejected ballot measures that would have expanded the Board of Supervisors or added elected county officials. The state Legislature considered bills making similar changes in 2015 and 2017, but neither received enough support.
Supervisors Lindsay Horvath and Janice Hahn deserve praise as co-authors of Major G. Both men recognized that with popular L.A. city governance reforms already on the November ballot, this year was a unique opportunity to overcome voters’ historic skepticism about expanding the county’s leadership.
Measure G paves the way for an overhaul of the government, but many of the details still need to be worked out. A Governance Reform Task Force will be appointed in the coming weeks to make recommendations to the Oversight Board on how to implement governance and ethics reforms. This will be critical to laying the foundation for success and ensuring that special interests that opposed Policy G, including county employee unions, do not undermine or stall the ambitious plan.
County voters finally accepted the change. They need a government that delivers on its promises.
