E: PROPOSED COUNTY CHARTER AMENDMENT. COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES ETHICS COMMISSION AND COMMUNITY INVESTMENT BUDGET ALLOCATION CHARTER AMENDMENT. (Vote YES)

What it does

Shall the measure amending the Los Angeles County Charter to provide greater independence and structure for the County of Los Angeles Ethics Commission, Office of Ethics Compliance, and Ethics Compliance Officer, including appointment processes, qualifications, term, duties and responsibilities, and to continue uninterrupted the County's commitment to community investment and alternatives to incarceration, as specified in the charter amendment ordinance, be adopted?

Why Thrive LA supports E

Measure E amends the Los Angeles County Charter to do two things. First, it establishes the structure, independence, and authority of the new County Ethics Commission and Office of Ethics Compliance created by 2024's Measure G, including appointment processes, qualifications, terms, investigative powers, and guaranteed annual funding. Second, it preserves and relocates Measure J's (2020) mandated budget set-aside for "community investment and alternatives to incarceration" into the new charter framework created by Measure G. The ethics component is the reason to vote yes. Los Angeles County government needs a genuinely independent watchdog with the authority to investigate elected officials, enforce conflict-of-interest rules, and hold the new County Executive accountable. The measure gives the Ethics Commission real teeth: strong independence provisions, clear appointment processes designed to insulate commissioners from political pressure, and dedicated funding so the office cannot be starved into irrelevance by the officials it oversees. For a county that just restructured its entire governance model, standing up a credible ethics enforcement body is not optional. It is foundational. The Measure J preservation is less straightforward. Locking mandated spending set-asides into the charter reduces future budget flexibility and constrains the Board of Supervisors' ability to redirect funds based on what actually works. The "alternatives to incarceration" framework has produced mixed results at best, and permanently shielding that spending from executive oversight or reallocation is the kind of rigid fiscal commitment that makes government less responsive over time. We would have preferred the Board put these two items on the ballot separately so voters could weigh each on its own merits. On balance, the ethics infrastructure outweighs the fiscal rigidity concern. County government desperately needs independent oversight with real enforcement power, and this measure delivers it. Vote yes on Measure E.

Key points

Independent Ethics Enforcement: The measure creates a structurally independent Ethics Commission with investigative authority over elected officials, strict conflict-of-interest rules for commissioners, and guaranteed annual funding. This is the accountability architecture a reformed county government requires.

Insulated From Political Retaliation: Appointment processes and term structures are designed to prevent the officials being investigated from defunding or stacking the commission. The Ethics Compliance Officer has defined qualifications and a fixed term, not a political appointment that changes with each election cycle.

Watchpoint: Measure J Set-Aside: The measure permanently enshrines Measure J's mandated budget allocation for "community investment and alternatives to incarceration" in the charter, shielding it from the new County Executive's veto. This locks in spending commitments without requiring performance metrics or demonstrated outcomes.

Watchpoint: Bundled Ballot Design: Ethics enforcement and Measure J preservation are unrelated policy items packaged into a single vote. The Board of Supervisors should have separated them. Voters deserve cleaner choices.

Necessary For Measure G Implementation: Measure G restructured county governance. Without Measure E, the ethics framework that was supposed to accompany that restructuring has no charter-level authority, leaving the new County Executive and expanded Board without a credible check on their power.

What it does

Why Thrive LA supports E

Key points

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