Board of Supervisors Set to Pilot New Public Review Process to Increase Input and Transparency on County Legislation

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Today, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (the Board) approved Supervisors Mitchell and Hahn’s motion with amendments presented by Supervisor Horvath to revise the Board’s policymaking process to allow for more public input and transparency. The approved pilot will require Board motions to be presented two weeks in advance of the Board’s Public Hearing meetings at one of the five existing County cluster meetings – that are open to the public and held on Wednesdays – starting January 21, 2025, until August 12, 2025.

“We often hear from constituents about how a motion can be placed on the Board agenda on a Friday and voted on a Tuesday, leaving little time for a thoughtful review or response from the public. With this pilot, we are aiming to use our existing cluster meetings to provide an opportunity for meaningful dialogue with our constituents and county departments that leads to better policy and outcomes for our residents,” said Supervisor Mitchell.

“Our ability to remain nimble is this Board’s greatest asset. If this pilot program serves our goal of making us more responsive to the changing needs of our ten million residents, it’ll have been worth trying it out,” said Supervisor Janice Hahn.

This is a follow-up action to the Board’s October 22, 2024, approval of Supervisors Mitchell and Barger’s motion calling for a report back on the most efficient options for utilizing the County’s existing cluster meeting structure to create a more accessible and community-driven policymaking process. Today’s vote implements scenario 1 from the Executive Office report back and calls for a written assessment of the pilot to determine the possibility of extending it.

The revised process outlined in scenario 1 maintains the Wednesday deadline for the Board to file motions. The Chair of the Board will now consult with the author(s) of the motion to determine which cluster meetings the motion should be presented at prior to the motion reaching the Public Board Meeting for a vote. The five County cluster meetings include (1) Operations, (2) Community Services, (3) Family and Social Services, (4) Health and Mental Health Services, and (5) Public Safety. For information on the County’s cluster meetings, visit https://ceo.lacounty.gov/agendas/

Motions for emergency declarations and routine administrative motions that are time-sensitive, like reward motions used to help bring justice to families, would not be required to go through the cluster process.