Council Members Study Seating Plan for Temporary Chambers

A Los Angeles City Council panel on Friday rejected four floor plan options for a temporary meeting room, sending city staff back to the drawing board for a new blueprint that would enable lawmakers to face each other, their leader and the public--all at the same time.

As part of an elaborate office shuffle that will cost at least $58 million, the Rules and Elections Committee is planning a chamber in City Hall East to accommodate public meetings during the 38 months that the historic City Hall is being retrofitted. Responding to public concerns, lawmakers are considering a layout different from their current chamber, in which council members’ chairs are in a horseshoe facing the council president, their backs to the audience.

The committee rejected a floor plan Friday that uses the current arrangement, as well as a horseshoe formation that would allow members to face the public. It also said no to an arrangement of two arcs facing outward.