Editorial: Tired of City Hall scandals? This is the moment to reform Los Angeles city government
It’s been an interesting week at City Hall. Just days after a pair of police reform advocates met with Mayor Garcetti to discuss reforms to the LAPD, the mayor himself met with them to discuss his own department.
With the LAPD reform legislation now back in city hands, the two activists can now continue to be proactive and make more recommendations and demand that the City Council give a good hearing to those suggestions. And with City Hall under way, the council is once again in a position to take swift action.
The council’s action will be a real challenge because of the multiple obstacles that will have to be overcome. Chiefly, the council will have to overcome the widespread resistance to reform that exists, and the fact that reform will be resisted by powerful unions and the mayor’s political allies. If this reform effort is to be successful, the mayor must be convinced by many different constituencies.
The two activists who met with Garcetti told the Weekly that Garcetti’s role as chief executive of the nation’s largest municipality gave him a unique obligation to be open to reform, including the reforms needed to make the LAPD a safer, better-run department. They also told the Weekly that Garcetti’s leadership was needed, but more importantly, that he could help change the culture in the LAPD as well as in the city.
“This has been a very interesting week that was a little hard to watch at times,” said Mark Ridley-Thomas, president of the NAACP Los Angeles County Branch. “We had a very constructive discussion with the mayor and we’re looking for a very constructive conversation going forward.
“I think he needed to hear what we have to say,” he said. “And he also needs to hear what we have to say about the issues. We don’t want him to just react. I think he should have a conversation and decide whether he will keep the city going in that direction or if he’d like to hear us out.”
Sens. Mark Leno and John F. Kennedy were also in attendance.
Nathan Hare, executive director of the NAACP/LAPD Leadership Council, said that he hopes the mayor will continue to try to move City Hall in a positive direction.
“I want him to continue
