Measure A
Reiterating Good Faith Negotiation Obligations and Establishing Impartial Binding Arbitration for Certified Public Safety Employee Disputes
Yes Measure A
ENDORSEMENTS:
ACT Pasadena Americans for Democratic Action, Southern California California College Republicans California Professional Firefighters (Local Los Angeles) California State Association of Electrical Workers (CSAEW) East Area Progressive Democrats Los Angeles County Democratic Party Los Angeles County Federation of Labor Reform California Santa Clarita Valley Democrats Thrive LA UNITE HERE Local 11No Measure A
ENDORSEMENTS:
Burbank Republican Party Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Action California Craig Huey’s Election Forum California Voter Guide Democratic Socialists of America, Los Angeles (DSA-LA) GUSD Parents Knock LAThe primary impact of Measure A would to be to allow any deadlock in union negotiations to be sent to binding arbitration. In a most fundamental sense, this would allow the major public safety units to force contract agreements that ignore the broader financial and policy needs of the county, putting at risk county priorities and the needs of other unions. We do not need to give the corrupt Sheriff’s Department any more power over the county’s budget.
We support labor, and we recognize that binding arbitration can be a fair tool for workers who are barred from striking. If a ballot measure proposed binding arbitration for County firefighters and lifeguards, we would support it. But Measure A extends that process to sheriff’s deputies and their supervisors, the Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs (ALADS) and other law enforcement representatives. We believe law enforcement special interest groups should not be treated as labor or given more leverage in negotiations. More money and more power for the Sheriff’s Department is the crux of our opposition.
Putting fundamental labor questions for public safety employees ultimately in the hands of unelected arbiters — not a governmental body tasked with a holistic assessment of the county’s needs and goals — runs the risk of hampering the ability of the county to govern itself. With respect to the budget in particular, the county CEO has warned of the budget consequences of the measure, which could include workforce reductions and a lowering of the county’s credit rating.
It’s understandable that public safety unions would want to secure contract gains outside the county’s regular budget process, especially in light of political pressure to “defund the police.” However, Measure A presents too great a fiscal threat to the already strained finances of county government.
Measure E
Ethics Commission and Community Investment Budget Allocation Charter Amendment
Yes Measure E
ENDORSEMENTS:
ACLU of Southern CaliforniaSupporting Measure E means more oversight and transparency at the County level and continuing the County’s obligation to fund community investments and alternatives to incarceration proven to help people overcome challenges and build stable futures.
Measure E creates an independent Los Angeles County Ethics Commission, with authority to increase transparency, prevent corruption, and hold officials accountable in the largest county in the nation.
Passing Measure E means more power for ethics investigation and more strength for the Commission to enforce penalties. Measure E would also remedy one of the more embarrassing moments in county history, the accidental erasure of Measure J in 2024…. A clerical error should not have been allowed to overturn the will of millions of Angelenos.
Measure E does two important things: it strengthens accountability in the largest county government in the nation, and it saves Measure J, …[which] requires the County to invest at least 10% of its locally generated unrestricted General Fund revenue in community-based alternatives to incarceration, such as housing, mental health care, and youth development.
We recommend a yes vote on charter amendments to give increased independence and structure to the Ethics Commission, AND to continue the County’s commitment for community investment and alternatives to incarceration.
No Measure E
ENDORSEMENTS:
Burbank Republican Party California College Republicans Craig Huey’s Election Forum California Voter Guide Los Angeles Daily NewsWhatever the merits of the changes to the ethics bureaucracy, they are inconsequential to how Angelenos should vote on Measure E. Measure E bundles plausibly fine ethics policy changes with the restoration of really bad policy. Vote no on Los Angeles County’s Measure E. Keep the madness of 2020 out of the county charter.