Community Voices Heard in L.A.

Neighborhood Councils in Los Angeles -- volunteer groups of concerned citizens who make policy recommendations to the city -- have scored a victory against their elected counterparts in the City Council as a judge has ruled that a ballot initiative intended to lengthen term limits was misleadingly titled.

"On Aug. 31, Superior Court Judge Robert O'Brien agreed with a coalition of neighborhood council members that the wording of Measure R, the half-baked ballot initiative to extend City Council term limits and weaken lobbyist restrictions, was misleading. Council members cleverly titled the measure, 'Councilmember Term Limits of Three Terms.' Almost sounds like they're creating term limits, rather than extending them, doesn't it?"

"In changing Measure R's title to the more accurate 'Lengthening Councilmember Term Limits,' as originally suggested by the city attorney, Judge O'Brien handed our diverse band of neighborhood council Davids a powerful victory over the insular Goliaths of City Hall."

With this victory, the 86 Neighborhood Councils in Los Angeles have moved closer to living up to their mandated power of attaining a "reasonable opportunity to provide input before decisions are made" as approved by voters in 1999.