Summary of Positions on Local Issues

On February 5, 2008, the City of Los Angeles has a special municipal election on Proposition S (Reduction of Tax Rate and Modernization of Communications Users Tax). The LWVLA Board of Directors discussed Measure S and declined to take action on it.

Summary of LWLA Positions

The full text of the LWVLA's positions is available in PDF format. Click here to download Adobe's Acrobat Reader (free)
CABLE TELEVISION (1984, 1997) Support for city guarantees and enforcement of provisions for local and citywide public, education and government access channels. Full Position
CHILD CARE (1985) Support for a publicly subsidized child care program available to parents at all income levels with fees on a sliding scale. Full Position
CITY GOVERNMENT (1964, 1976, 1977, 1980, 1994-1999) Support of measures that would sustain a balance of power between the Mayor and the City Council, strengthen direct lines of authority, and fix responsibility in City administration. Full Position
CIVIL SERVICE (1977) Support of measures that will reduce all barriers to the employment or promotion of a person except those based on merit. Full Position
COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT (1997, 2007) Support of the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) in its role as an essential part of public education in meeting the needs of the Los Angeles community. Full Position
EDUCATION (1966, 1971, 1976, 1977, 1981, 1993-1995) Support of a public school system which meets the needs of our community and whose primary goal is the achievement of quality education and an openness to educational change. Full Position
ELECTION PROCEDURES (2008) Advocacy of Instant Runoff Voting for single seat elections. Full Position
HOMELESSNESS (1986-87) Support of the City having a responsibility to provide shelter for the homeless people and to seek long-term solutions to their problems by cooperating with other levels of government and the private sector. Full Position
HOUSING (1967, 1980) Support of measures which lead to equality of opportunity for adequate housing. Full Position
LIBRARY (1975, 1977, 1981) Support of measures that will ensure adequate financing of the Los Angeles Public Library Department. Full Position
OPEN SPACE, RECREATION AND PARKS (1971) Support for the acquisition, preservation and maintenance of open space, with emphasis on adequate financing at all levels of government. Full Position
PLANNING (1961, 1967, 1972, 1979, 1989) Support of effective city planning and a land-use policy protecting the quality of life for everyone. Full Position
POLICE (1978, 1992, 2007) Support of the Police Commission in its Charter-given role as head of the police Department, and its ability to remove the Chief of Police with concurrence of the Mayor and City Council. Full Position
SECESSION (2001) Support of all efforts to improve services and responsiveness to the diverse voices of many communities in the City of Los Angeles. Los Angeles should continue as one city. Full Position
TRANSIT (1984, 2001) Support of transportation policies and practices that facilitate:

coordination among transportation agencies to assure efficient intra-county movement;
public/private partnership to provide DASH-type and/or shuttle systems within city neighborhoods;
placement of transit stops in safe, well-lighted locations.

Full Position
VOTING RIGHTS (1980) Support of election procedures which enable citizens to carry out their rights and duties as voters. Full Position
WASTE MANAGEMENT (1972) Support of measures to promote reuse of materials, measures to encourage research and development in waste management, and measures to ensure that completed landfills are used for open space only. Full Position
WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT (1991) Support of mandatory use of reclaimed water in major new developments, diversity in sludge mangement methods, and feasible and reasonable treatment of dry weather flows from some major storm drains. Full Position

Adopted Program 2007-2009

Click here to download a PDF of the full text of the LWVLA's Adopted Program 2007-2009, below.
The members of LWVLA voted to determine the issues the League will focus on for two years in order to create, modify, or use its positions. This is called the League's "adopted program." For 2007-2009 LWVLA voted to retain all previous positions except those listed below for active updating and to focus its efforts on the following:

CONTINUATION OF 2005-2007 PROGRAM
STUDY
CITY FINANCE: The study continues with a focus on the impact of city employee pension plans on the city budget work in progress.
ISSUE FOR EDUCATION AND ADVOCACY
REVOLVING DOOR: The series of educational discussions will focus on the options for prevention, rehabilitation, and problems relating to the return to society for those incarcerated.
UPDATE
EDUCATION (K-12): The update focuses on the governance and accountability for the school districts represented by LWVLA, including the charter school movement and how this affects governance and accountability for local schools.

UPDATE POSITIONS 2007-2009
HOUSING/HOMELESSNESS: The LWVLA Housing position was adopted in 1967 and last updated in 1980. The LWVLA Homelessness position was adopted in 1987. An update of these positions is needed to address the status of efforts by local government, working with other levels of government and the private sector to aid the homeless and low income people by increasing housing supply and accompanying social services. The study update scope could include the interaction between these two positions and other LWVLA positions which should be reconciled and include disabled access to housing.
POLICE: The LWVLA position was written in 1978 and last updated in 1992. The position primarily addresses the role of the Police Commission. The study update scope could include changes in the roles of local law enforcement post 9/11, issues related to LAPD's role in enforcing immigration laws, the recruiting, training and community policing policies, how the LAPD has addressed the consent decree.

ISSUES FOR EDUCATION AND ADVOCACY 2007-2009
ELECTION INTEGRITY: Begun with the observation of vote counting and mandatory audits in the election process, it will continue with research on other organizations that are involved in this topic with the possibility of proposing an alliance.
INSTANT RUNOFF VOTING: This project will consist of educating members about the Pasadena LWV position on Instant Runoff Voting with the purpose of LWVLA's adopting this position through concurrence.
SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES/GLOBAL WARMING: In 2000, LWVC developed a Sustainability Toolkit for local Leagues and it has been used in a variety of projects. One of the facets of Sustainable Communities is to safeguard our environment. The committee will gather and present information as to what Los Angeles is doing to address the Global Warming issue and what we as individuals can do to make this a more sustainable community.

Comments, suggestions, questions? Contact our webmaster. Last revised: April 4, 2008 14:20 PDT.