LA voters decide if city board should be scrapped
A ballot measure allows the City Council to dissolve the Board of Public Works, a body that has managed infrastructure since 1905.
By Kwame Silva ·
Los Angeles voters will determine on Tuesday whether the City Council gains the power to eliminate the Board of Public Works. The board has overseen streets, sidewalks, and sewers for 121 years. Measure LA contains a provision that would permit the disbandment of the five-member panel.
The measure includes six total changes to the city charter. The most contested element allows the council to end the board's existence. Proponents argue that dissolving the group would streamline operations and accelerate repairs to aging infrastructure. They note that the board would not vanish immediately. Any decision to disband it would require a two-thirds vote from the 15-member City Council.
The board members are full-time employees who earn slightly less than $200,000 annually. They are appointed by the mayor and supervise more than 5,500 city workers. These staff handle sanitation, street lighting, engineering, and graffiti removal. Each bureau has its own head, but the board provides collective oversight.
Councilmember Monica Rodriguez, who served on the board from 2013 to 2016, opposes the change. She believes concentrating authority in a single person invites corruption. She cited the 2022 sentencing of a former San Francisco public works director to seven years in federal prison for bribery. Rodriguez stated that a single director is not omnipotent and that the board's real problems lie in staffing and resources.
Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky supports the measure. She argues the current system is fragmented and lacks clear accountability. She referenced a stalled intersection repair project in her district where she struggled to obtain information. Yaroslavsky said that having one person in charge makes it easier to hold that person responsible for outcomes. She described the five-member board as a leftover from a previous era.
Board President Marqueece Harris-Dawson acknowledged the current structure can cause confusion. He described a scenario where departments passed a project back and forth without a single leader to solve the problem. He indicated that the existing setup creates a silo effect that slows progress. Councilmember Bob Blumenfield agreed that efficiency could improve under a revamped system.
Critics question why the board's potential elimination is bundled with other proposals. They note that the measure also adopts a two-year budget cycle and establishes a capital infrastructure plan. A former board member said the long paragraphs make the text difficult for the public to read. Rodriguez called the bundle a method to make voters swallow the poison.
According to a City Ethics Commission database, no money has been spent by groups supporting or opposing Measure LA. If voters approve the measure, the council must later decide whether to act. A future vote to eliminate the board would require 10 votes, or 12 if the mayor vetoes the move.
