2024 Los Angeles County Measure G

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2024 Los Angeles Measure G, officially the Los Angeles County Government Structure, Ethics and Accountability Charter Amendment, is a ballot measure which was approved by voters in Los Angeles County, California on November 5, 2024. The measure appeared on the ballot for all Los Angeles County elections.

Contents

This measure would amend the county's charter to establish a directly-elected county executive position in Los Angeles County, as well as an independent ethics commission and a nonpartisan legislative analyst. Aside from San Francisco, which is a consolidated city-county, this would make Los Angeles the only Californian county to have a directly elected county executive. The Board of Supervisors would also increase from five to nine elected members and county departments would be required to present annual budgets in public meetings. [1]

The measure is the first significant amendment to the charter's definition of county government since the approval of the charter in 1912.

Background

Los Angeles County is currently governed by a five-member Board of Supervisors, which has appointed a Chief Administrative Officer since 1938 (renamed Chief Executive Officer since 2007). In addition, the Chair of Los Angeles County, the presiding officer over the Board of Supervisors, serves de facto as the executive leader of the county government.

On July 3, 2024, County Chair Lindsey Horvath and Supervisor Janice Hahn introduced Measure G to the Board. The Board voted 3-0 on July 30 to refer the measure to the voters, with supervisors Kathryn Barger and Holly Mitchell abstaining from the vote. [2] [3]

Details

Under the plan, the directly-elected county executive will:

Support and opposition

Supporters included supervisors Lindsey Horvath and Janice Hahn, as well as the Los Angeles Times ; the opposition included supervisors Holly Mitchell and Kathryn Barger, as well as the county fire and sheriff's departments. [4] [5]

Results

On November 5, 2024, Los Angeles County voters approved the measure, with most news outlets calling the result by November 12. [6]

Measure G [7]
ChoiceVotes %
Check-71-128-204-brightblue.svg Yes1,663,77051.62
No1,559,50948.38
Total votes3,223,279100.00

Aftermath

Following voters approval of the measure, the Board unanimously approved the creation of a Governance Reform Task Force for reorganizing the county government ahead of the elections for the future offices. Under the plan for implementation:


In 2025, it was reported that an unintentional clerical error had resulted in Measure G erasing Measure J, a 2020 county ballot measure that established a mechanism allocating a certain percent of county funds to "anti-incarceration initiatives." As Measure G involved a significant change to the county's charter, the section previously containing Measure J was accidentally not included in Measure G, meaning that county voters effectively voted to rewrite the charter without Measure J. While the county established a budget that is identical to Measure J, the measure effectively lost its constitutional protection and became vulnerable to potential future county board decisions to remove it. [10]

See also

References

  1. "Los Angeles County, California, Measure G, Ethics Commission Amendment (2024)". Ballotpedia . Retrieved October 10, 2024.
  2. "Two LA County supervisors seek reform: Nine board members instead of five". Los Angeles Daily News . July 4, 2024.
  3. "An elected or appointed chief executive for L.A. County? Voters will decide". Los Angeles Times . August 31, 2024.
  4. Stoltze, Frank (October 8, 2024). "Measure G: Expanding the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors". LAist. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
  5. "Endorsement: Yes on Measure G for a more functional and representative L.A. County government". Los Angeles Times . September 29, 2024. Retrieved October 9, 2024.
  6. "Supporters of LA County Measure G claim victory, expanding board of supervisors". November 12, 2024.
  7. Sol, Gabriel Arizon, San Fernando Valley Sun/El (December 5, 2024). "LACo Board of Supervisors Approves Task Force to Oversee Rollout of Measure G". The San Fernando Valley Sun. Retrieved February 12, 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. Canavan, Will (November 21, 2024). "Chair Horvath Launches Measure G Implementation with Governance Reform Task Force". Supervisor Lindsey P. Horvath. Retrieved February 12, 2025.
  9. "The administrative error that wiped out one Los Angeles ballot measure and may force another". POLITICO. Retrieved July 15, 2025.