Judge Orders April Vote on Reform Panel

In a major victory for Mayor Richard Riordan, a federal judge ordered the Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday to put the mayor’s government reform initiative on the April ballot.

The council had balked at putting the measure before voters, arguing that Riordan’s petition is legally flawed and would expose the council to lawsuits.

But U.S. District Judge Mariana Pfaelzer expressed little sympathy for the council’s position, signing an order that requires the council to act by Friday or face court sanctions.

“It’s a major victory for residents of Los Angeles and the over 300,000 people who signed the petition,” Riordan said after Pfaelzer signed her order. The mayor added that as far as he was concerned there was never a question of whether the measure would make it to the ballot--the only question was when.

The measure asks voters to create and elect 15 members of a citizens panel to rewrite the 71-year-old charter that acts as the city’s constitution and sets the balance of power in City Hall.

Several council members expressed concern over at least one outstanding issue but said they will comply with Pfaelzer’s ruling.

“The council’s intentions are to abide by the order,” said Councilman Mike Hernandez, one of the harshest critics of Riordan’s measure.

The only way the council can keep the measure off the ballot and avoid court sanctions would be to appeal to a higher federal court for a stay of Pfaelzer’s ruling--which both sides said is unlikely.

A majority of the council has been critical of the measure, accusing Riordan of trying to use charter reform to increase the mayor’s authority at the expense of the council’s power.

Riordan supporters respond by accusing the council of trying to thwart the will of the people by delaying a vote on the proposal, which gathered 304,000 signatures during a petition drive.

“The council has been fighting us procedurally for so long,” said David Fleming, a Studio City attorney who teamed up with Riordan on the initiative in response to threats of a San Fernando Valley secession. “We think this decision today is a victory for democracy.”

The council has already created its own advisory panel to recommend charter reform measures to the council, which can act on them as it sees fit. Riordan’s elected commission, on the other hand, would have the power to put reform measures directly on the ballot, bypassing the council.

The crux of the legal dispute centered on whether the council can put a measure on the ballot that was substantially changed after the signatures were collected.

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The original petition said the city would hold a “citywide” election for the reform panel, but Pfaelzer ruled earlier that an at-large election would violate the Federal Voting Rights Act. She then declared the election should be held by district.

The council majority expressed fears that they could be sued for putting a substantially altered measure on the ballot, but Pfaezler’s ruling put such concerns to rest. The council can now say it had no choice.

She ordered the council to put the measure on the April 8 ballot, called for elections by district and required candidates to be registered voters in the district in which they run.