OUR LA Demands LA City Council Make Good On Its Promises to Give Residents A New Vision of City Governance

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OUR LA Demands LA City Council Make Good On Its Promises to Give Residents A New Vision of City Governance

Media Contact:
Ronald Simms, Associate Director of Communications, Catalyst California
(202) 270-0936 or rsimms@catalystcalifornia.org

LOS ANGELES, CA –Today OUR LA released a letter to the Los Angeles City Council demanding critical reforms make it on the 2024 November ballot to address the scandal that rocked the council in 2022 and enact structural changes needed to realize a more racially equitable Los Angeles.

Only through these actions will the LA City Council begin to move our City out of the shadow of corruption and hate in which we still reside.

"Angelenos can no longer wait for reforms that Councilmembers themselves called for 18 months ago. AAPI communities in Los Angeles, who have typically been left out of city government, are in solidarity with other communities impacted by systemic racism,” said Candice Cho, Managing Director of Policy and Counsel at AAPI Equity Alliance. “ We demand an independent redistricting commission that meaningfully engages our communities, many of whom speak a language other than English. Beyond an IRC, we demand Council expansion, comprehensive ethics reform, and a transparent Charter Reform Commission. It has been abundantly clear that the Council must act to restore public trust, and the time to act is long overdue."

OUR LA is calling on the LA City Council to:

• Confirm City and LAUSD Independent Redistricting Commissions as ballot measures on the November 2024 ballot, aligned with the recommendations of OUR LA.
• Place a comprehensive ethics reform package and council expansion on the November 2024 ballot or create a Charter Reform Commission by June 30, 2024.

“We hear Councilmembers condemn corruption after every indictment and conviction of City Hall insiders and then months pass and nothing happens. We need action to clean up City Hall,” said Godfrey Plata, Deputy Director of LA Forward. “To restore the public's trust in government, we need comprehensive governance and ethics reform for community members sooner rather than later. We can't afford a slow decade-or-longer drip of piecemeal reforms whose impact Angelenos won't feel and which will allow distrust in local government to fester. If Councilmembers mean what they say about the need for change, they must add a full slate of other reforms to the November 2024 ballot alongside independent redistricting. Reform delayed is reform denied and we Angelenos are tired of it.”

With the Ad Hoc Governance Reform Committee set to meet on April 18, 2024, OUR LA, its partners, and Los Angeles residents who have been engaged in the process are preparing to make their voices heard through public testimony, social media, and direct appeals to city council members.

“The structures, systems, and processes within LA City’s government perpetuate and exacerbate racial and economic disparity, corruption, and underrepresentation of low-income and communities of color,” said Aaron Robertson, Director of Political Voice at Catalyst California. “We need to change the rules of the game, and it’s high time LA city council members make good on the promise they have made for governance reform.

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OUR LA is a multiracial, multi-generational, multi-issue, and intersectional coalition of community-based organizations and racial justice advocates committed to community voice, multiracial solidarity, power-building, racial equity, structural reform, and transparency.