By Max Clark
Can regular Los Angeles residents—if given time, access to experts, and a chance to share their experiences with each other—actually make sensible rules for their society? On December 13, the Institute of Contemporary Art Los Angeles gave them a space to try. On January 11, the Democracy Center is providing another opportunity. If you are a Los Angeles resident, you can visit RewriteLA.org/deliberate to add your name to the pool to be randomly selected for this “Mini Civic Assembly.”
This is happening because LA City is reforming its charter for the first time since 1999. The city council created the Charter Reform Commission which signed a letter approving RewriteLA to use these civic assemblies in the process. These assemblies will involve the people of Los Angeles in rewriting their city charter, which is like a constitution for a city. In the December assembly, thirty-two Los Angeles residents developed a set of recommendations for how the charter should address land use decisions, such as zoning approval, “by-right” construction, and capital asset management.
The plan is to repeat this process on a new issue relevant to the charter at the Democracy Center, and it will be a full day for participants. From 10 a.m. until 5 p.m., there will be small group discussions where each individual will be asked to discuss their thoughts and share their experiences. Local volunteers from Public Democracy LA will facilitate discussion, but the everyday people selected to the assembly will have the hard work to do.
These LA assemblies are considered to be mini assemblies, since they are being conducted in a single day. A full assembly would span multiple weekends and require more funding and a bigger logistical commitment. Nonetheless, Raymond Meza, the chair of the LA Charter Reform Commission, spoke before the mini assembly and restated his commitment to having the recommendations voted on by the commission.
There is no guarantee that the commission will accept the recommendations, but this is a chance for the rich and poor, the old and young, to have their ideas brought before the powerful.
Featured image: Los Angeles residents participating in the “Mini Civic Assembly” to reform the charter for the City of Los Angeles at the Institute of Contemporary Art Los Angeles. Photo courtesy of the author.
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