Measure HH (along with its companion Measure II) is a mishmash of proposed changes to the Los Angeles City Charter that largely tackle the minutiae of city governance. These proposals can get pretty deep in the weeds, but they make a difference in how city departments and officials do their work (and in some cases, whether they get sued).

Official title on the ballot: City Governance, Appointments, and Elections. Charter Amendment HH

Understanding Measure HH

The six L.A. City ballot measures that you’re seeing this year are all part of a larger charter reform effort that began in late 2022 after three city officials and a labor leader were caught on tape making racist and homophobic remarks while discussing how to amass more power in the city’s once-a-decade redistricting process. Since then, the pressure’s been on for city officials to reform the structure of city government to create more transparency and accountability. That starts with amending the L.A. City Charter.

The biggest topics of discussion have been about reforming the Ethics Commission and creating an independent redistricting commission (which you’ll get to vote on with Measures ER and DD).

But there are several more minor charter amendments being proposed, largely to clarify rules that have caused confusion or set new ones to address problems. Measures HH and II are collections of these amendments covering different aspects of how city governance and operations work.

The history behind it

In December 2023, the L.A. City Council directed various city departments to look through the City Charter and recommend sections that needed updates or changes. It then whittled down those recommendations to about two dozen proposed amendments and grouped them into two ballot measures: Measure HH and Measure II.

Any revisions to the L.A. City Charter have to get approved by voters before they go into effect, which is why you’re seeing them on the ballot.

How it would work

Measure HH would amend about a dozen sections of the L.A. City Charter to update language, introduce new rules or specify responsibilities for certain city offices.

Here are some of the proposed changes:

• City attorney subpoena power: During investigations, the L.A. city attorney would have authority under the City Charter to compel witnesses to turn over evidence or give information related to that investigation.
  
  • Background: The city attorney already has subpoena power, but only under state law, not the City Charter. This amendment would expand their authority to cases involving city laws. The City Charter currently gives subpoena power to the mayor, controller, City Council and several other offices, but not the city attorney, which serves as the city government’s official legal representation. 
• City controller power to audit contractors: The L.A. city controller would have the power to audit and access the financial records of any city contractors or subcontractors. 
  
  • Background: Currently the City Charter only gives the controller specific power to audit city departments. The question of how far the office could go to audit contractors came up earlier this year after City Controller Kenneth Mejia tried to obtain certain records from a nonprofit city contractor whose employee was filmed spraying water toward an unhoused person. 
• Commissioners disclosing conflicts of interest: Anyone who is nominated to be a commissioner for the city of L.A. would be required to file a form detailing their potential financial conflicts of interests before they can be confirmed to that commission. 
  
  • Background: Many city departments are overseen by commissions that set the department’s policies — they include the Planning Commission, Police Commission, Board of Airport Commissioners and more. Currently, a person who is nominated to serve on a commission has to file these financial disclosure documents within a few weeks of being nominated, but it’s not a condition of their confirmation. That means if the confirmation moves quickly, they could get confirmed before disclosing their conflicts of interest. This proposal would change the rule so that nominees have to file those disclosures first.
• Fiscal impact report for ballot initiatives: If any city residents submit initiatives or referendums to be placed on the ballot, the City Council would have an additional 30 days to request and review a report analyzing how that measure would affect city finances or operations. 
  
  • Background: Any registered voter in L.A. can propose a city law (known as an ordinance initiative) or referendum on anything the City Council has passed, as long as it gets enough signatures to qualify. (Measure HLA, an ordinance initiative that voters passed in March 2024, started out this way.) Right now, if an initiative meets the signature requirement, the City Council has 20 days to either adopt it or place it on the ballot in an upcoming election. The proposed change would give the City Council additional time to request a fiscal impact report before taking either of those actions.
• Makeup of the Board of Harbor Commissioners: The five-member Board of Harbor Commissioners would be required to have one member who’s a resident of San Pedro and one member who’s a resident of Wilmington.  
  
  • Background: The Board of Harbor Commissioners oversees operations and management of the Port of Los Angeles. Right now, the charter only states that this board be made up of residents of the “area surrounding the Harbor District,” but doesn’t specify representation from any particular neighborhoods. 

Other proposed changes include City Council voting mechanics, the ability to serve on the board of a joint powers authority, and temporary appointments for vacant general manager positions. You can read the full text of the proposed amendments here.

What people who support it say

Supporters of this measure include City Councilmembers Paul Krekorian (District 2) and Tim McOsker (District 15), who wrote the argument in favor of Measure HH for the city. They say these amendments help clarify rules, remove outdated language and close ethical loopholes in the charter. Read the official argument here.

The Wilmington Neighborhood Council was among those who requested residential seats for the Board of Harbor Commissioners. In their community impact statement submitted in May, they wrote that there is an “under-representation for the community of Wilmington” within the board despite the Port of Los Angeles being largely within Wilmington borders. It also said having a residential requirement would “ensure that the communities that need to live with the decisions made by this Board have adequate representation and a seat at the table in making decisions.” The L.A. Times has a longer read about tensions around the harbor commission.

What people who oppose it say

Nobody has submitted official arguments opposing Measure HH.

Potential financial impact

Measure HH doesn’t require any additional funding. However, the financial impact statement submitted by the Chief Administrative Officer notes that “the clarification of roles, establishment of procedures, and the expansion of subpoena powers for the City Attorney may increase the workload of various City departments which may or may not be absorbed within existing resources.” It notes there’s “insufficient information” to know if Measure HH would add costs to any of the city departments it affects.

Follow the money

There hasn’t been any spending for or against Measure HH in this election cycle so far.

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This voter guide originally published Sept. 6.