Zócalo Public Square

Los Angeles City Council member Mitch Englander went to prison for taking gifts from casino interests. Jose Huizar turned his city council office into a criminal enterprise, an indictment contends. Mark Ridley-Thomas faces charges of taking bribes from USC. And three more councilmembers conspired with a top labor official to influence redistricting—spewing racism and hatred on tape and disgracing themselves. Often, such scandals seem like the only times Angelenos hear about their councilmembers. Is the L.A. City Council—overshadowed as it is by the mayor, five county supervisors, and powerful state and national politicians—still worth the trouble and embarrassment? Can the body be saved by reforms, or by making it bigger? Or should L.A. replace its council altogether and turn instead to innovative methods of government decision-making—from lottery-selected citizens’ panels to the online environments used to govern cities from Madrid to Montevideo? Public Access Democracy director Leonora Camner, California 10