Supporters of Measure G declared victory this week, scoring a win with nearly 51 percent support. While Los Angeles County's charter changes may not get as much attention as other high-profile measures on the ballot, make no mistake: This wonky governance reform package may a very transformative decision district voters have done in decades.
In 2026, the region will be the first ethics commission regulating conflicts of interest and lobbying and investigating misconduct by elected officials and county employees. This has long been decided by a government with a budget of 45 billion dollars and 100 thousand employees. A recent investigation The corruption case against former Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas has found major problems in the district's contracting system, prompting investigators to recommend a new ethics and compliance officer and other measures to prevent conflicts of interest.
In addition, in 2028, voters will choose an official to lead the state government. The position – in fact the mayor of the district – has also passed for a long time. For more than a century, LA County has been governed by a five-member Board of Supervisors, which was fine when the county had more cattle than people. But today the region has a population and a footprint greater than that of most states. Imagine trying to run New Jersey with a five-member legislature and no governor.
An independently elected chief executive who can manage departments and make decisions will be transparently accountable to the public. That should spur progress on long-standing needs such as to close the dangerously shrinking Central Men's Prison and diversion of trained prisoners from correctional facilities; addressing problems in the child welfare system; and providing adequate substance abuse and mental health treatment.
And in 2032, nine members will be elected to the Board of Directors, which should allow for more representation of the region's country, politics and ethnic diversity. Supervisor Kathryn Barger's 5th District currently stretches from Los Feliz to Lancaster, for example; it is an impossible task to understand and act on behalf of communities with different needs.
With a senior executive in place, the duties of managers will also change. The board will be primarily responsible for delivering services to the unincorporated parts of the county, enacting legislation and holding the executive to account.
This should ensure better, more transparent government. Many failures and inefficiencies have gone unnoticed because the region lacks even the basic checks and balances that are essential to democracy.
This would be a major change in LA County that good government advocates — including The Times' editorial board — have long pushed for. Four times since 1962, voters have rejected ballot measures to expand the board of directors or add an elected county executive. The state Legislature considered bills to make similar changes in 2015 and 2017, but none gained enough support.
Supervisors Lindsey Horvath and Janice Hahn deserve credit for co-authoring Measure G. They realized that with LA's popular package of city governance already on the November ballot, this year provided a rare opportunity to overcome voters' historic skepticism about expanding district leadership.
Although Measure G paves the way for government reform, many details still need to be worked out. A management reform steering group will be appointed in the coming weeks to make recommendations to the Board of Directors on how to implement governance and behavioral changes. This will be critical to laying the groundwork for success — and ensuring that special interests opposed to Measure G, including state labor unions, don't try to weaken or stop ambitious programs.
County voters finally accepted the change. They deserve a government that can fulfill its promises.
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