LA City Council approves disclosure rules for Charter Reform Commission

The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to advance an ordinance requiring members of the city’s Charter Reform Commission to disclose private communications with elected officials or their staff — a move supporters say is aimed at curbing behind-the-scenes influence.

The item was approved as amended on a 12-0 vote, with Councilmembers Bob Blumenfield, John Lee and Curren Price absent. The ordinance would align the Charter Reform Commission’s disclosure rules with governing the city’s Redistricting Commission, as the charter panel moves toward recommendations that could shape City Hall for decades.

The vote followed months of criticisms from Councilmember Monica Rodriguez and transparency advocates, who said the proposal had stalled despite the commission’s compressed timeline and its April deadline to submit recommendations to the City Council. Rodriguez first introduced the measure in August, arguing that disclosure requirements were needed before key charter proposals were finalized.

Rodriguez said the amendment was designed to move the ordinance forward quickly as the commission continues to hold meetings and develop recommendations.

“Due to the time-sensitivity of when this has come forward, and given the ongoing meetings that are being held by the Charter Reform Commission … I wanted to get this scheduled as quickly as possible,” Rodriguez said before the vote.

Rodriguez said the amendment clarifies that violations of the disclosure requirement would be enforced as civil violations, a change intended to address concerns raised earlier in the Rules, Elections and Intergovernmental Relations Committee. The amendment also directs the City Clerk to place the ordinance on a City Council agenda for final consideration no later than Jan. 27, following coordination with the City Attorney’s Office on the ordinance language.

The Council approved the item without discussion.

The action follows weeks of debate over whether informal, undisclosed conversations between commissioners and elected officials or their staff could shape charter proposals outside public view. Supporters have argued that because the city charter functions as Los Angeles’ governing document, the commission’s work warrants heightened disclosure requirements.

The Council vote comes as debate over ex parte communications has intensified inside the Charter Reform Commission itself. During the commission’s Ad Hoc Committee meeting on Jan. 17, members of the public raised concerns about undisclosed communications between commissioners and elected officials, citing the issue of transparency as the panel advances major charter proposals.

The commission is scheduled to consider the issue at its full meeting Wednesday, Jan. 21, at Van Nuys City Hall, where the agenda includes a motion related to commissioner ex parte communications. The meeting will also include discussion of recommendations already forwarded by the Ad Hoc Committee for further consideration by the full commission.

The Charter Reform Commission was created in 2024 in response to a series of City Hall scandals, including the leak of racist audio recordings involving former City Council President Nury Martinez. The panel is tasked with reviewing the charter and submitting proposed changes to the City Council by April 2. City leaders will then decide which recommendations, if any, advance to voters as early as November.