Feuer Urges Council to Put Riordan’s Plan on Ballot

City Councilman Mike Feuer called for an end to the bickering between the council and Mayor Richard Riordan over the mayor’s governmental reform measure and urged that the council put Riordan’s measure on the April ballot.

Riordan’s petition drive, which qualified for the ballot last month, calls on voters to create an elected reform panel to overhaul the 71-year-old charter that acts as the city’s constitution.

But a majority of council members have questioned the legality of the petition and have delayed putting the measure on the April 8 ballot.

“It’s time to end the bickering over the process of charter reform,” Feuer said Monday. “We should let the process go forward and let voters decide how they want charter reform to take place.”

The council has rejected Riordan’s efforts and has appointed its own charter commission, which must answer to the council. Riordan’s elected panel would have the power to put a charter reform measure directly on the ballot.

Feuer also said he will introduce a motion today instructing the city attorney to draft legislation to impose spending limits on the candidates for Riordan’s charter reform panel.

“I want to make sure some special interest can’t use wealth to buy a new charter,” he said.

The council is scheduled today to decide whether to place Riordan’s controversial measure on the ballot.

On Friday, several council members questioned whether the petition was valid because a federal court ruling forced Riordan to change the way panel members would be elected after he and an associate had already collected 304,000 signatures.

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The original petition said the election would be “citywide,” but U.S. District Judge Mariana Pfaelzer ruled that the election should be by district to ensure that minorities are fairly represented.

The council has argued that the petition cannot be significantly altered after the signatures are collected and suggest that Riordan recirculate the petition.

In a memo released late Friday, Pfaelzer appeared to dismiss that argument and ruled that the measure should go on the ballot in April.

Meanwhile, three San Fernando Valley activists have thrown their hats in the ring as candidates for the panel. Don Schultz, president of the Van Nuys Homeowners Assn., Matt Epstein, a member of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn., and Walter Prince, a community activist in Porter Ranch, have asked Riordan to support their bids.

Riordan’s staff has hinted that he will endorse a slate of candidates. Several council critics, however, have suggested that his slate will include Riordan supporters intent on changing the charter to increase the mayor’s authority.

Schultz, who has vehemently disagreed with Riordan in the past, said he does not plan to be a “yes-man for anyone.”

He said he would like to focus on changing the charter to give neighborhoods more input in planning issues and other city decisions.