News Stories

Below is a selection of news stories regarding LAGRP’s interim and final reports and their recommendations.

• Why scandal-plagued Los Angeles is resisting ethics reforms

• LA City Panel Approves Package Of Ethics Reforms

• Editorial: L.A. City Hall has a corruption problem. Why are leaders stalling on ethics reform?

• Independent governance reform group calls for stronger Ethics Commission

• Reform advocates share strategies to fix LA redistricting

• LA City Council Members Wrestle With Increasing Their Numbers

• L.A. will switch to independent redistricting if voters approve in 2024 election

• Who carves up Los Angeles City Council’s 15 districts, voters or politicians?

• LA City Council To Vote On Independent Redistricting Commission Proposal

• What You Need To Know About LA’s Independent Redistricting Commission Proposal

• If L.A. adds City Council seats, how would it work? These charts show the possibilities

• The LA City Council Hasn’t Grown In Nearly 100 Years. Now There’s Talk Of Doubling Its Current Size

• Independent reform group recommends expanding L.A. City Council to 25 members

• The Los Angeles City Council is in turmoil. Can it manage to fix itself?

• Group recommends reforms for scandal-plagued Los Angeles city council

• Academics Release Report to Fuel LA City's Governance Reform

• As Yet Another Scandal Rocks LA City Council, How Can We Improve Governance?

• What A Group Of Local Scholars Say Could Help Improve Governance In City Of Los Angeles

• Academics seek sweeping reform of LA City Council governance due to corruption

• Editorial: To fix City Hall corruption, L.A. needs a stronger Ethics Commission

Press Releases

• Academics, Good Government Groups Urge Action on LA City Governance Reforms

• LAGRP Final Report Calls for Independent Redistricting, Larger City Council and Ethics Reform, Independent Poll Finds Voters Overwhelming Favor Reforms for LA and LAUSD

• Joint Statement from California Common Cause, the LA Governance Reform Project and OUR LA on the LA City Council’s Proposal Establishing an Independent Redistricting Commission

• Los Angeles Governance Reform Project Interim Report Calls for Independent Redistricting, Larger City Council and Ethics Reform

Survey and Focus Groups

• Ebony Marketing Systems Focus Groups Report 

• Interviewing Service of America Survey Report 

Informational Briefs

The Research Team compiled briefs to document and summarize research and analysis on the core issues driving the group's recommendations.

Redistricting

• Charter Cities Committing to Independent Redistricting Processes

• Commissioner Enumerated Duties

• Dual-Step Selection Process Alternatives

• Campaign Finance Rules and Eligibility for Independent Redistricting Applicants

• Commission Selection and Non-Citizen Participation

• Commissioner Selection Geography

• Eligibility for Independent Redistricting Commissioners

• Ex Parte Communications

• Race as a Consideration in the Commissioner Selection Process

• Racial Ethnic Background of Commissioners - 2021 LARC

• Independent LAUSD Redistricting

• Power Asymmetries in Structure of Commissions

Council Size

• Budget Implications of Council Size

• Applying Models of Legislative Size to LA City Council Expansion

• Demographic Breakdown of City Councils in Cities with Mixed Systems

• District Count and Viable Voting Blocks

• Hybrid City Council Election Systems

• Preliminary Presentation of LA Council Expansion Associated Costs

Ethics Reform

• LA Ethics Reform

• Using the Ethics Commission to Staff the Redistricting Commission

Selected Resources

• Abott, C., & Magazinnik, A. (2020). At‐Large Elections and Minority Representation in Local Government. American Journal of Political Science, 64(3), 717-733.

• Anzia, Sarah F. (2013). Timing and Turnout: How Off-Cycle Elections Favor Organized Groups. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

• Burnett, C. M., & Kogan, V. (2014). Local logrolling? Assessing the impact of legislative districting in Los Angeles. Urban Affairs Review, 50(5), 648-671.

• Butwin, J. (2018). Putting Students First: Why Noncitizen Parents Should Be Allowed to Vote in School Board Elections. Fordham L. Rev. Online, 87, 49.

• California Citizens Redistricting Commission. (2021). Report on Final Maps.  

• Chief Legislative Analyst. (2011). Redistricting Report.

• Chief Legislative Analyst. (2023). Redistricting Report.

• Chief Legislative Analyst. (2023). Independent Redistricting Commission Program.

• Collingwood, L., & Long, S. (2021). Can states promote minority representation? Assessing the effects of the California Voting Rights Act. Urban Affairs Review, 57(3), 731-762.

• Davidson, C., & Korbel, G. (1981). At-large elections and minority-group representation: A re-examination of historical and contemporary evidence. The Journal of Politics, 43(4), 982-1005.

• Drutman, L., Cohen, J. D., Levin, Y., Ornstein, N. J. (2021). The Case for Enlarging the House of Representatives. Cambridge, Mass.: American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

• Hajnal, Z., Lewis, P. G., & Louch, H. (2002). Municipal elections in California: Turnout, timing, and competition. San Francisco: Public Policy Institute of California

• Heidorn, N. (2017, updated). California Local Redistricting Commissions: Landscape, Considerations, and Best Practices. California Local Redistricting Project.

• Heidorn, N. (2023). The Promise of Fair Maps California’s 2020 Local Redistricting Cycle: Lessons Learned and Future Reforms. California Local Redistricting Project.

• Hertz, L. Z. (2023). Does a Switch to By-District Elections Reduce Racial Turnout Disparities in Local Elections? The Impact of the California Voting Rights Act. Accepted at Election Law Journal.

• Huang, C., Murray, R., & Hofer, S. (2018). The Trade-Offs between At-Large and Single-Member Districts. University of Houston: Hobby School of Public Affairs, White Paper Series.

• Los Angeles City Ethics Commission. (2022). Ethics Commission Approves Sweeping Reforms.

• Los Angeles City Council Redistricting Commission, Report and Recommendations (Oct. 29, 2021).

• LA City Governance Reform. (March, 2023). Central City Association of Los Angeles.

• Los Angeles County Redistricting Commission, Final Report. (Dec. 15, 2021).

• Los Angeles Unified School District, Report and Recommendations. (Oct. 29, 2021).

• Masuoka, N., & Chan, N. (2023). Asian American, Latino, Black and White Voters in Los Angeles City Elections: Racial Diversity and Representation in 2020 And 2022. In UCLA Asian American Studies Center.

• Muzzio, D., & Tompkins, T. (1989). On the size of the city council: Finding the mean. Proceedings of the Academy of Political science, 37(3), 83-96.

• Office of the Inspector General. (2022). Los Angeles Unified School District Special Review of LAUSD Redistricting Commission Reimbursement of Expenses.

• Oliver, S., Hollingworth, K., Briner, R., Swann, C., Hinds, K., & Roche, C. (2018). Effective and efficient committee work: a systematic overview of multidisciplinary literatures. Evidence Base: A journal of evidence reviews in key policy areas, (2), 1-21.

• Richman, J. T., Chattha, G. A., & Earnest, D. C. (2014). Do non-citizens vote in US elections?. Electoral Studies, 36, 149-157.

• Schwartz, K., Jauregui, V. C., Emanuel, A., Medrano, D., Roller, J., & Coulter, J. (May 2022). Strategies for Expanding the Los Angeles City Council: Nearing a Century with Fifteen Seats. UCLA Master of Public Policy Thesis.

• Simmons, C. W., Roland, H. E., & Kelley-DeWitt, J. (1998). Local government ethics ordinances in California (Vol. 98, No. 2). California Research Bureau, California State Library.

• Sonenshein, J. Raphael. (2006). The City at Stake: Secession, Reform and the Battle for Los Angeles. Princeton, NJ. Princeton University Press

• Trounstine, J., & Valdini, M. E. (2008). The context matters: The effects of single‐member versus at‐large districts on city council diversity. American Journal of Political Science, 52(3), 554-569.

• Wechsler, R. F. (2013). Local Government Ethics Programs: A Resource for Ethics Commission Members, Local Officials, Attorneys, Journalists, and Students, and a Manual for Ethics Reform. City Ethics, Incorporated.

• Welch, S. (1990). The impact of at-large elections on the representation of Blacks and Hispanics. The Journal of Politics, 52(4), 1050-1076.