Combating corruption through a citizens’ assembly
Following racism and corruption scandals in Los Angeles, the city is set to establish a randomly selected Citizens’ Assembly. The position of City Council president should also be filled by lottery. These are two of nine recommendations adopted by the LA Charter Assembly on March 8, 2026.
Other recommendations relate, among other things, to the electoral system, the size of the City Council, and independent oversight of the work of the City Council and the administration.
Question
The question posed to the assembly for consideration was: “How large should the Los Angeles City Council be, and how should it be structured?”
Between February 28 and March 8, 2026, the participants in the Charter Assembly spent approximately 26 hours gathering information on the topic, deliberating, and adopting recommendations. Prior to this, the Charter Assembly had consulted with 17 experts. In the end, 31 of the 35 members of the assembly supported the recommendations.
Referendum on reform
The official recipient of the recommendations is the Los Angeles Charter Reform Commission, which has committed to thoroughly reviewing the results and allowing all LA residents to vote on amendments to the city charter in a referendum.
The Charter Assembly was a project of Rewrite LA, a coalition of several nonprofit organizations and individuals advocating for greater citizen participation in the revision of the city charter. The Charte Assembly was funded by donations from individuals and foundations—including the Broad Foundation, the California Wellness Foundation, and the Berggruen Institute.
Racism and corruption in the City Council
The Democracy Project was launched following repeated incidents of racism and corruption within the Los Angeles City Council. In 2022, the then City Council President, Nury Martinez, resigned after a leaked audio recording exposed three Latin American councillors who had planned to expand their power at the expense of Black voters by redrawing electoral boundaries.
In 2023, City Councillor Curren Price Jr. was charged with embezzlement and perjury. Price Jr. was thus the third city councillor in a short space of time to be charged with a criminal offence. Prior to this, two other councillors had already admitted to committing criminal offences.
Separation of politics and the Ethics Commission
These scandals have severely damaged the City Council’s reputation. The Constitutional Assembly therefore intends to remove the right of councillors and the mayor to appoint members of the Ethics Commission.
The Ethics Commission is a semi-autonomous body established and funded by the voters via a referendum. Its purpose is to administer and enforce a governmental ethics ordinance for the City of Los Angeles. The Commission is also responsible for administering and enforcing the City's lobbying and campaign finance laws.
Mini-LA
The Charter Assembly was composed of people who had responded to postcards sent to 20,000 residential addresses across all city districts. In collaboration with social service agencies, individuals without a fixed residence were also recruited to participate.
Assembly members were randomly selected from the applicants to create a “Mini-LA” in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, place of residence, party preference, housing situation, and education.
The recommendations of the LA Charter Assembly
- Establish a permanent civic assembly, randomly selected to reflect LA demographics, to review, advise, and refer Council decisions back for consideration, with a minimum of two assemblies per year.
- The City Council should be 25 single-member districts. The office of City Council president should randomly rotate between members with nonconsecutive terms ending at the end of each session, including special sessions.
- As population increases per the U.S. Census, the size of the City Council should automatically increase. There should be no more than 170,000 people per district.
- Council members must live in their respective district for at least one year prior to the election.
- Council members and the Mayor will no longer have appointment powers to the Ethics Commission.
- Create an independent, nonpartisan office of the Inspector General with the authority to investigate, audit, and refer for prosecution any City employee, whether they be elected or appointed. The Inspector General will lead the Ethics Commission.
- Voting will be done by ranked choice.
- One council size option should be presented for the vote, Language shall include that an increase in City Council membership is an increase in representation.
- Hire a qualified COO and CFO independently, not appointed by the mayor or City Council.
City Charter of 1994
The City Charter of Los Angeles dates back to 1924. It defines the structure of the city administration, municipal offices and departments, as well as decision-making procedures. The Charter has not undergone any significant changes since 1999.
Los Angeles is the first major U.S. city to incorporate a Charter Assembly into the reform of its City Charter.