The Rules, Elections and Intergovernmental Relations Committee approved the Charter Reform Commission’s outreach and engagement plan, with five votes in favor, after commission representatives described a multi-pronged outreach effort intended to reach all 15 council districts and underrepresented communities.

The commission presented the plan as a framework of in-person district meetings, evening and weekend events, pop-ups, virtual forums and partnerships with community organizations and said it had retained an outreach contractor to expand outreach beyond traditional town halls.

Commission staff member Mr. Ramirez told the committee that the plan "is a product of what started with, of course, your ordinance that was passed, and laying out, a framework for outreach engagement, including, you know, timing of meetings, both on weekends, after 6PM, and meeting in all of the 15 districts." He said the commission had already added meetings beyond the plan and was using community events, pop-ups and virtual sessions to reach residents where they are.

Raymond Messa, chair of the Charter Reform Commission, said the engagement plan should be treated as a floor, not a ceiling. "The only thing that I would add is we've used this engagement plan as a floor," Messa said, adding the commission had scheduled additional committee meetings specifically on government structure and planned multiple passes through council districts.

Commission staff gave several details about current outreach activity: the commission has held about 10 meetings to date, maintains an email list of roughly 500 addresses, sees about 50 to 60 people joining meetings on Zoom and about 50 people attending in person at typical sessions, and has a staff of four dedicated employees. The commission said the contractor agreement specifies types and numbers of events and includes community partnership grants, but does not set a single citywide numeric target for total participants.

Council members pressed for clearer, quantifiable goals tied to demographics and turnout. Council member Raman said she was "delighted" by early engagement but asked, "What does success look like for community engagement?" She requested specific expectations for the contractor, including target numbers and demographic metrics, and asked that those expectations appear in the council file before a full council vote.

Mr. Ramirez and Chair Messa responded that the contractor agreement lists the number and types of events and that the commission intends to provide metrics showing how many people were engaged, how many surveys were completed and which communities were reached. Messa added that the commission would consult council offices on lists of organizations to target and planned to provide numerical goals before the item goes to full council.

Committee members also urged outreach to internal city staff and to organizations that already have community relationships. Council member Villasovsky recommended early, repeated engagement with council offices, the mayor’s office and department staff to surface operational constraints in the charter and to gather subject-matter expertise.

The committee voted 5-0 to approve the outreach and engagement plan. The commission said it will continue district and thematic meetings, pursue multilingual and multicultural outreach, use the contractor to expand reach to college students and younger Angelenos, and provide the council with metrics and lists of partner organizations moving forward.

The commission said it must deliver final recommendations to the council by mid-April to allow time for council review and possible placement on the November 2026 ballot.

Among next steps, commissioners said they would continue rolling meetings through the council districts, provide the requested numeric outreach goals to council staff before a full council vote, and deepen engagement with both community organizations and city departments.