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(1/) My Zócalo Connecting California column this week argues that the current debate about making mayors stronger misses the point. What we need is to make our tiny city councils bigger. https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2020/09/01/strong-mayors-california-city-government-city-council/ideas/connecting-california/
(2/) In other words: If you want to make your California city government stronger, don’t make your mayor more powerful. Instead, make your city council bigger. @CityofSanJose @SacramentoCity https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2020/09/01/strong-mayors-california-city-government-city-council/ideas/connecting-california/
(3/) This summer, two of our state’s most thoughtful mayors, @sliccardo & @mayor_steinberg, have been seeking to make themselves "strong mayors", with more executive authority, including hiring/firing dept heads. https://napavalleyregister.com/opinion/columnists/dan-walters-two-mayors-seek-more-authority/article_b69eb4d0-713f-5878-9697-09c91b5a206a.html
(4/) #StrongMayors are rare in CA; only five of our 482 cities have them. More typically, California cities are run by appointed city managers, and a mayor is just one member of a city council. And in the Golden State, our city councils are weak and have few members.
(5/) The COVID and policing crises create urgency around this debate. People demand swift action from mayors on pandemic and policing. But Liccardo, Steinberg, and others complain they can’t meet such public demands because they lack the necessary mayoral authority.
(6/) But #strongmayors will cause conflict and won't fix problem: Our cities’ lack of power is a function of our state’s constitution, which centralizes power at state level and severely limits the most important local power—the power to raise taxes.
(7/) Voters imposed this weak local system through Prop 13 and related measures because they don’t trust their local officials. Which means that the only way for city governments to change this system and become stronger is to build trust with voters.
(8/) You don’t build trust by turning mayors into tin-pot Trumps. You build trust by making local governments more responsive and representative. But how can a local government be rrepresentative if there are barely any representatives in local government? https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2020/09/01/strong-mayors-california-city-government-city-council/ideas/connecting-california/
(9/) It can’t. Which is why the first step toward meaningful representation is to allow city councils to have many more members. In no other state are local elected officials so few, and thus so far from the people. Our most populous cities, in particular, have tiny councils.
(10/) @CityofSanJose, with > 1 million ppl, has just 11 council members. @CityofSacramento has 9 for 500,000-plus, and @CityofSanDiego has only 9 for its 1.4 million-plus residents. No place is less representative than Los Angeles with 15 council members for 4 million ppl.
(11/) Such minimal representation means there are simply too few elected positions to reflect the kaleidoscopic diversity of California. With so few local representatives, there are also fewer of the ideas that our local communities so desperately need.
(12/) If you look at the globe’s greatest cities, you are likely to see large, energetic city parliaments. Madrid's city govt has 57 members, and is highly innovative, having created @DecideMadrid an online platform copied by cities worldwide. http://thegovlab.org/beyond-protest-examining-the-decide-madrid-platform-for-public-engagement/
(13/) Vienna, a pioneer in using local democracy to foster development, has 100 representatives in its local parliament. Paris, the world’s most beautiful city, has 163. Tokyo, among the most dynamic places on earth, has 127. Seoul, a leader in citizen engagement, has 110.
(14/) If L.A. had a city council where each member represented 25,000 people—a good number to make our politicians representative of neighborhoods—the body would have 160 members, the same as Berlin. By the same formula, San Jose would have 41 councilmembers, and Sacramento 21.
(15/) If California cities wanted to follow suit, they’d need more candidates. But it wouldn’t be hard to identify new local politicians. The thousands marching on our streets are the just civic-minded people needed in local office. @Blklivesmatter https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2020/09/01/strong-mayors-california-city-government-city-council/ideas/connecting-california/
(16/) Mayors Liccardo and Steinberg might find candidates among the many opponents of their #strongmayors plans.
Tellingly, the debates over those plans surfaced complaints about a lack of representation. https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2020/09/01/strong-mayors-california-city-government-city-council/ideas/connecting-california/
Tellingly, the debates over those plans surfaced complaints about a lack of representation. https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2020/09/01/strong-mayors-california-city-government-city-council/ideas/connecting-california/
(17/) In Sacramento, Mayor Steinberg modified his original plan in response to community and political opposition. He also paired his November “strong mayor” ballot measure with provisions that are supposed to ensure more equity and representation in the city
(18/) In San Jose, Liccardo backed off plans for #strongmayors Nov. ballot measure and announced an inclusive charter revision process, with vote in 2022. “At the end of the day, our city belongs to its residents," the mayor wrote. https://sanjosespotlight.com/san-jose-mayor-sam-liccardo-drops-his-strong-mayor-plan/
(19/19) With more of our neighbors campaigning for council, more Californians would participate in local elections. CA mayors might also find that, with more colleagues and a more engaged citizenry, they have more power. https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2020/09/01/strong-mayors-california-city-government-city-council/ideas/connecting-california/
