During the 2021 redistricting process to redraw Los Angeles City Council district maps , a closed-door conversation between three council members and a leading labor official about how they wanted district boundaries redrawn in their favor was secretly recorded, then released to the public a year later. Even before the audio leak , L.A.
City Hall had been battered by a series of scandals that sent former City Councilmembers José Huizar and Mitchell Englander to prison. But the explosive conversation heard in that recording appeared to be the final straw, leading to widespread demands for reforms to improve government transparency and to strengthen ethics oversight. “In recent years, the City Council of Los Angeles has been rocked by a series of scandals, including the indictment of former members and then notably the incredible, racist recorded conversation among four leaders of our city,” said Councilmember Paul Krekorian, who recently stepped down as council president .
Krekorian became president of the council shortly after the audio leak scandal. One of his first actions as president was to create an ad hoc committee on city governance reform “to begin to restore public confidence in the institution of the City Council.” Now, two years after the audio leak that upended City Hall, voters in Los Angeles are asked to vote on six measures on the Nov.
5 general election ballot that would amend the city charter and address some of the demands for government reforms. T.