LA CHARTER ASSEMBLY Central City Association 2023 Council Section

City Council Representation
Number of Councilmembers and Districts – City Charter
Section 241
The number of people in City Council districts reflects the level
of representation those voters have in local governmental affairs;
the power of an individual voter is greater when there are fewer
total voters for a Councilmember, and the inverse is true, too.
Proposals to amend the City Charter to expand the City Council
and improve Angelenos’ representation on City Council have
arisen time and again but the size of the City Council has not
changed in nearly a century. In 1999, Los Angeles voters approved
a new City Charter but rejected two other simultaneous measures
that would have increased the number of Council Districts to 21 or
25.6 Former City Attorney and 2022 Mayoral candidate Mike Feuer
made City Council expansion a signature piece of his campaign
platform, although the issue received little public attention or
interest at the time.7 However, the City Council adopted a motion
authored by former Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell in October
2022 to study potential expansion and possible inclusion on a
ballot initiative to amend the City Charter. The Chief Legislative
Analyst has published a report and the City Council is currently
weighing options.
One recent and thorough analysis of the topic was prepared by
Redistricting Commission Appointee and Founding Director of
UCLA Latino Policy & Politics Institute Sonja Diaz, who authored
a paper titled “Report on Expansion of City Council,” which was
included as Appendix M of the 2021 Redistricting Commission’s
final report to the City Council. Diaz’s report provides an in-
depth analysis of the number of City Councilmembers and how
it relates to community and voter representation. She writes that
the 15-member Council “was established in the 1924 Charter and
has remained the same size for nearly 100 years,” but meanwhile
“between 1920 and 2020, the City’s population increased by
576%,” a change from “a ratio of one councilmember to roughly
38,000 Angelenos” to “one councilmember to approximately
260,000 residents.”8
The 15-member Council
was established in the 1924
Charter and has remained
the same size for nearly
100 years, but meanwhile,
between 1920 and 2020,
the City’s population
increased by 576%.
6https://www.nytimes.com/1999/06/10/us/los-angeles-reinvents-itself-adopting-new-city-charter.html
7https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-11-01/la-me-mike-feuer-wants-faster-action-on-city-council-expansion
8https://clkrep.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2020/20-0668-S7_misc_10-29-21.pdf
Central City Association8
Diaz notes that there are far more Neighborhood Councils
and officially designated neighborhoods than the number of
City Council Districts, suggesting a misalignment between
communities and their level of Council representation. Her
research shows that the City of Los Angeles has considerably
more residents per Council District than other major cities in Los
Angeles County, the largest cities in California and in the U.S.9 For
instance, translating the ratio of Councilmembers to constituents
is characteristic of the level of resident representation, “Los
Angeles residents have 95% less representation than Santa
Monica residents.”10 We also are 79% less represented than
Chicago residents, 69% less than San Francisco residents, and
34% less than New York residents.11
Diaz concludes that “The City’s diverse geographic, demographic,
and social landscapes are poorly served by the current size
of the City Council…Ultimately, the limited structure of the
council impedes full political representation of Angelenos, and
remains an outlier in its disproportionately high ratio between
councilmember and residents compared to other major cities
across the County, State, and U.S.”12
Residents Per City Council District in Los Angeles Compared With Other Cities
City Number of Council Districts Total Population (2020) Residents Per District
Los Angeles 15 3,898,747 259,916
Los Angeles County
Santa Monica 7 93,076 13,297
Pasadena 7 138,699 19,814
Burbank 5 107,337 21,467
Pomona 6 151,713 25,286
Glendale 5 196,543 39,309
Santa Clarita 5 228,673 45,735
Long Beach 9 466,742 51,860
California San Diego 9 1,386,932 154,104
San Jose 10 1,013,240 101,324
San Francisco 11 873,965 79,451
United States Chicago 50 2,746,388 54,928
Houston 11 1,608,139 146,194
New York 51 8,804,190 172,631
Phoenix 8 1,603,797 200,475
“Los Angeles residents have 95% less
representation than Santa Monica residents.”10
We also are 79% less represented than Chicago
residents, 69% less than San Francisco residents, and
34% less than New York residents.11
Table adapted from "Report on Expansion of City Council" by Sonja Diaz
9Ibid.
10Ibid.
11Ibid.
12Ibid.
9Los Angeles City Governance Reform
Analyzing Expansion of the City Council
Considering her concerning diagnosis of the current size of
the City Council, Diaz outlines a gradient of possible City
Council district increases ranging from minimal addition of two
members to more significant increases that would approximately
double the size of the Council, all of which would have varying
considerations regarding “political feasibility, costs, and
administrative functions.”13 Based on her analysis of the city’s
communities and neighborhoods, and in comparison with
other major U.S. and California cities, Diaz finds that “the City
should pursue, at minimum, a moderate increase to the number
of districts, representing an increase of at least seven council
districts.”14 She argues that increasing the size of the Council
and reconfiguring districts will ultimately have the benefit of
improving representation of growing areas and distinct racial
and ethnic communities, creating greater political cohesion
among communities and more fairly distributing power among
the Council and Mayor that would reduce Councilmembers’
citywide political influence and enable more effective and locally-
responsive government.15