LA County Board

19. Los Angeles County Governance Reform: Implementing the Voter\nMandate for a More Representative, Accountable and Transparent Los\nAngeles County\nRecommendation as submitted by Supervisors Horvath and Solis: Instruct the\nExecutive Officer of the Board, in consultation with County Counsel, to establish\nthe Governance Reform Task Force (GRTF) to research and analyze the\ncurrent governance structure, conduct public outreach, and make\nrecommendations to the Board on a reorganization proposal that implements the\nvoter-approved Charter amendment to transition the County’s governance\nstructure, where the GRTF will be comprised of 13 members and must be\nselected as follows:\nApplication and selection process: Within 60 days, the Executive Officer\nof the Board, in consultation with County Counsel, must develop an\nonline GRTF member application that follows a similar application\nprocess to the County Independent Redistricting Commission, and\napplicants for the GRTF must come from the following sectors: academia,\nthe County workforce, labor, government (including cities), business, and\ncommunity organizations, as well as an individual with significant\nexperience or knowledge in public sector ethics , and the final\ncomposition of the GRTF should represent the diversity of the County,\nwith criteria for selecting GRTF members to include the following:\nMinimum Requirements: adults over age 18; must reside within the\nCounty at the time of service; willingness to work on a highly visible\nadvisory body; ability to commit the necessary time; possess experience\nthat demonstrates analytical skills relevant to the performance of\ngovernmental functions and execution of governmental duties under\napplicable Federal, State, and local laws and regulations; must explain\ntheir reason for seeking to be a member of the GRTF; and upon\nselection, file a Statement of Economic Interest (Form 700);\nDesirable Qualifications: skills, knowledge or lived experience that will\nhelp the GRTF fulfill its roles and responsibilities particularly around\nmunicipal or civic administration, stakeholder engagement, and project\nplanning and implementation; commitment to, and experience with,\nadvancing the County’s core values of anti-racism, equity,\ncommunication, collaboration, transparency, “care first” and fiscal\nresponsibilities; interest and experience in the County’s transition\nelements, e.g. municipal administration, financial and budget planning\nand operations, and roles and responsibilities of the expanded Board and\nCounty Executive, including roles of the County Legislative Analyst and\nDirector of Budget and Management; ability to leverage community\nconnections to support community engagement efforts of the GRTF; local\ngovernment experience/knowledge is preferred including , but not limited\nto, cities within the County; and residents of County unincorporated\nareas possessing the minimum requirements;\nApplicants will be disqualified from GRTF membership if they, or an\nimmediate family member, are currently: appointed to, elected to, or a\ncandidate for office at the local, State, or Federal level representing any\narea within the County; serving as appointed staff of, or a paid consultant\nfor, an elected representative at the local, State, or Federal level\nrepresenting the County; serving as an employee of, or paid consultant\nfor, a candidate for office at the local, State, or Federal level\nrepresenting the County; a registered State or local lobbyist; and the\ndisqualifications above do not apply to appointed staff not working\ndirectly for an elected official’s office, commissioners , and employees of\norganizations representing local cities;\nDevelop an application that presents questions to the applicants that best\ndemonstrate their qualifications, once the application is finalized, it must\nbe posted on the Executive Office of the Board’s website for a minimum\nof 30 days (application period) to provide applicants the opportunity to\ncomplete and submit their applications;\nWithin 10 business days after the close of the application period,\napplications must be reviewed for completeness and provided to the\nBoard, including a summary of which qualifications identified above each\napplicant possesses;\nWithin 45 days after the close of the application period, Board action\nmust be taken to select five GRTF members by a majority vote of the\nBoard, with each Board member to recommend one GRTF member from\nthe application pool;\nWithin 45 days of the closing of the application period, three additional\nGRTF members shall be nominated by labor as follows: one nominated\nby the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor; one nominated by SEIU\nLocal 721; one nominated by the Coalition of County Unions; and the\nlabor nominees must participate in the application process, to be\napproved by the Board within 30 days of receiving the nominations, no\nother GRTF members shall be representatives of labor, including\nmembers appointed by the Board or the GRTF to ensure equitable\ndistribution across all stakeholder sectors, where representatives of labor\ninclude individuals that are members of labor unions;\nThe remaining qualified applications must be provided to the five Board\nnominated and approved GRTF members, for the purpose of\nrecommending applicants to the Board to fill the outstanding GRTF\nmember seats, and the final GRTF members must be selected to fill gaps\nin the sector representation (academic, business, government (including\ncities), and community organizations, as well as an individual with\nsignificant experience or knowledge in public sector ethics) not yet met\nby the five GRTF members appointed by the Board and the nominated\nand approved GRTF members representing labor, within 30 days of\nbeing appointed, the five GRTF members must submit their proposed\nappointments to the Board for approval; and\nShould a member of the Board not nominate an applicant for the GRTF\nwithin the 60 days of the closing of the application period, the selected\nand appointed members by the remaining Board shall nominate an\napplicant to fill the member seat set aside for a Board office, unless\notherwise directed by the Board;\nDirect the Executive Officer of the Board, in consultation with County Counsel\nand other relevant Department Heads, to prepare the following within 60 days:\nA Governance Reform Transition Work Plan (Work Plan) for the GRTF\nthat includes short- and long-term focus areas, and timelines, as outlined\nin the Charter amendment , and provide to the Board for consideration,\nwith the Work Plan to include, but not be limited to , the following:\nPublic Budget Hearings (2025): A proposed process for Departments to\npresent their budget requests in a public Board meeting, including\nschedules that comply with State law, starting with the Fiscal Year (FY)\n2026-27 Budget;\nFive-Day Posting Requirement for Non-Urgency Legislation (2026):\nProvide notification to Board offices and Departments of the updated\nfiling instructions for Board letters and motions reflecting the Charter\namendment change, which requires all non-urgency, County legislation\nbe publicly posted for a minimum of 120 hours (five days) before Board\naction;\nEthics Commission (2026): A proposed structure for the independent\nEthics Commission utilizing County Counsel’s report on Ethics Reform in\naddition to a public input process that is completed in time to implement\nthe Commission by 2026;\nCounty Executive (2028): Reorganization options that include the\ncreation of a County Legislative Officer, a Director of Budget and\nManagement, including staffing and budget; and a staffing and budget\nproposal for the County Executive’s office;\nBoard Expansion (2032): A staffing and budget proposal for the new\nnine-member Board; and\nCharter Commission (2034): A proposal and timeline to establish a\nCharter Review Commission to meet at least decennially (i.e., every 10\nyears) to review the County’s governance and the County Charter, and\nmake recommendations to the Board, which the Board must place on\nagenda for vote no later than 90 days after transmittal, with any\ngovernance issues outside of the scope of the GRTF to be addressed by\nthe Charter Review Commission;\nDevelop a comprehensive public engagement strategy for the GRTF\nincluding, but not limited to, rotating public meetings across Supervisorial\ndistricts, both in person and virtual; education materials on the Charter\namendment; a communications plan for the governance transition; and\noutreach efforts to stakeholders Countywide, in consultation with all\nBoard offices, with all outreach materials to be developed according to\nthe Countywide language access policy;\nEstablish a website as a central point of information for the public on the\nCounty’s governance transition efforts, including educational materials\nfor the public on the voter-approved Charter amendment and the\ngovernance transition;\nIn consultation with the Director of Personnel, provide recommendations\nfor the project management and/or staffing of the implementation of the\nCharter amendment, including support for the GRTF , and consider both\ninternal and external candidates and/or consultant support to effectuate\nthe implementation of the adopted Charter amendment , with a project\nmanagement plan to be included to support the work of the GRTF\nincluding, but not limited to, an executive director/project manager,\noutside counsel and communications and outreach personnel;\nPropose fair compensation to be provided to GRTF members to assure\nthat a wide range of residents can participate, where the compensation\nmust be on a per diem basis; and\nExplore the potential willingness of philanthropy to provide funding to\nsupport the County’s governance transition planning efforts;\nDirect the Chief Executive Officer to prepare the following within 60 days,\nunless noted otherwise , and begin to:\nWithin 30 days, develop a proposal that aligns with the implementation of\nthe Charter amendment, subject to the Board’s approval, to amend the\nFY 2025-26 budget calendar and process to include public Departmental\nbudget hearings before the Board, as an interim step for FY 2025-26,\nuntil the GRTF has recommended a process for FY 2026-27 and beyond;\nIdentify a point of contact to respond to information requests related to\nthe implementation of the Charter amendment; and\nIdentify available funding to support the GRTF in the current budget and\nfor FYs 2025-26 and 2026-27, including budget, staffing, and placement\nwithin the Executive Office of the Board and ensure that direct services\nare not impacted to achieve this directive;\nInstruct County Counsel to identify a lead counsel to be responsive to the\nrequests of the GRTF and report back to the Board in 75 days on ordinance\nupdates or legislative proposals that may be required or recommended to\nimplement the Charter amendment and any other potential code updates that\ncould be required once the public input process on the governance transition\nhas been completed, with the report to include recommendations regarding\nex-parte communications between the GRTF and the Board and conflict of\ninterest policies that could be applied to the GRTF; and\nInstruct County Department Heads including , but not limited to, the\nAuditor-Controller, the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, Executive Officer of\nthe Board, and the Chief Executive Officer , to respond in a timely manner to\ninformation requests related to the implementation of the Charter amendment\nfrom the Executive Officer of the Board, the GRTF and/or their consultants.\n(24-5538)