Director Named for Charter Reform Panel

Raphael J. Sonenshein, a political scientist at Cal State Fullerton, was named director Wednesday of a charter reform panel created by the Los Angeles City Council.

The 21-member panel was assigned by the council to study overhauling the city’s 72-year-old governing charter that many officials say is inefficient and out of date.

Sonenshein, who has written an award-winning book on race relations in Los Angeles, will start the job Monday. His salary is still in negotiation, but officials say it will range between $75,000 and $115,000.

Sonenshein said that he will consider any proposed changes to the way the city operates, but that he will focus on addressing complaints that many communities feel cut off from City Hall.

“I really mean it when I say that I don’t have an agenda,� he said.

The charter reform panel will work for 18 months before submitting its suggestions for change to the City Council, which has the power to rewrite, reject or place the suggestions on the ballot.

The call for charter reform was sparked by threats of a San Fernando Valley secession, but has now become a power struggle between the council and Mayor Richard Riordan.

Riordan has spearheaded a petition drive to place a measure on the April 8 ballot to ask voters to create a separate reform panel that would be independent of the council.

Sonenshein said that if there are two panels, he hopes they can cooperate. But he added that the dispute between the council and the mayor may benefit the reform movement by raising the visibility of the issue.

“If this were not worth arguing over, it would not be worth doing,� he said.