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Committee approves study of matching funds for LAUSD candidates, asks CLA to consult district
Summary
After public comment and questions from the city ethics commission, the committee voted to have the CLA return with options on extending the city's candidate matching program to Los Angeles Unified School District and to engage LAUSD about potential cost-sharing.
The Los Angeles City Council Rules Committee voted to instruct the Chief Legislative Analyst to prepare options for extending the city's candidate matching program to Los Angeles Unified School District elections and to consult LAUSD on possible sources of funds.
A public commenter who identified the item as Councilmember Padilla's motion said past council efforts to study matching funds had stalled and urged that LAUSD be brought into discussions about cost-sharing. "If we're gonna ask them to do that, we should bring them to the table," the commenter said during public comment.
Councilmember Raman moved an amendment to the motion to specifically add collaboration with LAUSD on sources of funds; the amendment was seconded and adopted. David Tristan, executive director of the City Ethics Commission, told the committee the cost of a matching fund program varies depending on the number of open seats and competitiveness and that the city's public trust fund is currently about $20 million but fluctuates with election cycles. "For example, the last citywide election, we paid out $13,000,000 to all candidates," Tristan said.
The committee asked staff to examine program design differences across jurisdictions, the interaction between LAUSD boundaries and city tax dollars, and whether LAUSD or the state could contribute. CLA staff said the analysis would include scenarios where LAUSD would pay matching funds and that CLA would engage LAUSD in those conversations.
On a roll call vote, the item passed with Harris Dawson and Raman and Soto Martinez voting yes and Yaroslavsky voting no; Councilmember Lee was absent. The committee instructed the CLA to return with options and scenarios for consideration.
