City Forum Centers on Competing Reform Plans

Opposing plans to reinvent city government continued to roar on a collision course Saturday at the first public forum on charter reform.

The summit meeting of community leaders from throughout the city was called by seven homeowner groups to give neighborhoods greater say in plans to reform government, but the debate clearly centered on a power struggle between Mayor Richard Riordan and the Los Angeles City Council.

Held in a cavernous sound stage for TV’s “The Price Is Right,” the summit was billed as an informational meeting but often departed into a forum of diverse political viewpoints. Only four of the city’s 15 council members showed up, leaving empty places at a long table on the stage directly under a colorful dollar sign symbolizing the game show.

About 150 community residents attended--far below the 250 expected--and fidgeted impatiently as organizers stalled for 45 minutes hoping for the arrival of more council members. Audience members were not allowed to address the speakers. Instead, they wrote their questions on cards, which were parceled out to the panelists by a moderator during the last hour.

Diana Plotkin, president of the Westside Civic Federation, said she hoped area representatives would listen to the debate, then take ideas back to their communities for discussion.

“We clearly want to direct the power back to the people,” Plotkin said, “but it is unclear how and who should do it.”

At issue is not what reforms are needed, but who should recommend reforms.

The mayor and the council have proposed rival plans. Riordan and his backers are conducting a petition drive to elect a citizen panel that would present its proposal directly to the voters. The council is appointing members to a separate panel with only advisory power.

Speakers for both sides warned the political process could determine the future power brokers in Los Angeles.

Studio City attorney David Fleming, representing Riordan’s plan, said the proposal to elect a 15-member panel for government reform grew out of the Valley’s secession movement. Calling Los Angeles “75 different communities looking for a city,” Fleming said charter reform could bring about formation of neighborhood councils with the power to decide local issues.

“Los Angeles is no longer a city where one size fits all,” Fleming said.

David Diaz, an urban planner and Cal State Northridge professor, opposes Riordan’s plan but also called for development of more localized government. He proposed that local planning commissions, with members elected by the community, be formed to determine building, planning and zoning issues.

Two of the council members who spoke predicted trouble with parallel proposals being pursued at the same time and suggested the conflict could derail long-awaited plans to rewrite the city’s 71-year-old charter.

“Two tracks are bad,” said Councilman Mike Feuer, a leading supporter of charter reform. “Let’s not let ourselves get distracted.” Feuer unsuccessfully proposed a compromise: an appointed panel representing all of the council districts and the mayor’s office, with the power to present its recommendations directly to the voters.

Councilwoman Ruth Galanter said two panels working independently could produce “cosmic charter proposals” too wieldy to pass. She proposed tackling specific issues by modifying the existing charter.

Only two other council members--Nate Holden and Marvin Braude--attended the summit meeting, held at CBS Television City in Los Angeles.

While procedural issues over charter reform appeared to leave many undecided, the crowd clearly demonstrated an anti-government mood, applauding any suggestions to give neighborhoods greater power. Organizers said they expect to call another summit next March, just prior to the April election.

In addition to the Westside Civic Federation, a coalition of 17 homeowner groups, sponsors included the San Fernando Valley Federation, the Federation of Hillside and Canyon Assns., the Baldwin Hills Coalition, the Innercity Alliance, United Streets of Hollywood and Crenshaw Neighbors.