To the editor: Your editorial about the watered-down ethics reform package approved for the November ballot by the Los Angeles City Council comments accurately about the council’s recent actions regarding the Ethics Commission.
However, it fails to point out that the independent redistricting commission approved by the City Council is not actually true reform. It is important that the commission drawing L.A. City Council districts be a truly independent one modeled on the state’s redistricting commission.
A truly independent commission has a secure budget and its own legal counsel. Otherwise, there is still a chance that the City Council will indirectly interfere with redistricting through control of the commission’s budget and forcing it to rely on the city attorney for legal advice.
The City Council’s current version of an independent redistricting commission does not meet the standards of true reform. The League of Women Voters of Greater Los Angeles urges the council to improve this measure before voters decide on it in November.
Mona Field, Los Angeles
The writer is president of the League of Women Voters of Greater Los Angeles.
