Residents across the city of Los Angeles who are interested in joining the newly formed Charter Reform Commission are being asked to apply for a seat, Mayor Karen Bass announced Friday.
Bass and the City Council established the Charter Reform Commission last year, intended to review and provide recommendation to update the City Charter. Some amendments were adopted by voters in November, but the commission will be tasked with suggesting changes in a more timely manner for consideration by city leaders.
Interested applicants can find the form at reformlacharter.lacity.gov/, and the deadline to file is March 28 by 5 p.m.
The 13-member commission has yet to meet as seats still need to be filled. The mayor appoints four members, council president appoints two, council president pro tempore appoints another two, and five seats are appointed by the initial eight members through an application process.
“This commission is a high priority to me, the City Council, and Angelenos who deserve government reform,” Bass said in a statement. “While I continue the extensive and careful search for the best and most experienced appointees for the job, we are launching this application for commissioners ready to serve this important commission.”
“I have been working closely with Council President (Marqueece) Harris-Dawson and look forward to having all of the seats filled and to hiring an executive director for the commission in order to prepare for the November 2026 ballot,” she added.
All appointments are subject to confirmation by the City Council.
Among the subjects suggested for review are improving the delivery of city services, revising the city’s contracting process, revising the city’s budgeting process, establishing a consistent procedure for filling vacancies in elected offices, defining the rules for censure and suspension of elected officers, and exploring an increase in the number of council districts.
“This commission is about change for Los Angeles,” Harris-Dawson said in a statement. “Their work will shape the reforms voters could see on the 2026 ballot — changes that can make our city government more accountable and transparent.”
Draft recommendations for reform are expected to be prepared for council consideration by January 2026, with a deadline of April 2, 2026, to approve them — giving members time to debate those issues and ultimately place amendments on the November 2026 ballot for voters to decide.
The impetus for charter reform grew out of the 2022 racist audio scandal.
Three council members, two of them now gone, were caught on a leaked recording discussing ways to redraw districts in their favor under the current redistricting system — which takes place every 10 years, but which also allows incumbent members to have ultimate say.
Additionally, three former City Council members — Mark Ridley-Thomas, Jose Huizar and Mitch Englander — have been indicted in recent years on corruption charges, Ridley-Thomas for actions while he was a member of the county Board of Supervisors.
Los Angeles County has undertaken a charter-review of its own, sparked by the passage of Measure G in November.
Measure G mandates the expansion of the Board of Supervisors from five to nine members following the 2030 census, and makes the county CEO an elected position by 2028. It also requires the county to add a county legislative analyst and director of budget and management.
Measure G also formalized the establishment of an Ethics Commission and a compliance officer by 2026. The measure also had a series of other provisions, including the creation of a commission that would review the county charter every 10 years; requiring all county departments to present their annual budgets during public meetings; requiring all Board of Supervisors agenda items to be posted at least 120 hours prior to a regular meting; authorizing suspension of an elected official charged with a felony relating to a violation of officials duties; and requiring that the changes be made with no additional cost to taxpayers.