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# Charter Amendment LA: End the Paid Board. End the Excuses. Make Public Works Work
October 29 2026
Written by Nick Patsaouras.
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NICK’S VIEW - Los Angeles voters finally have a chance to address a persistent city problem: the Department of Public Works. This is a wasteful department, a leftover relic outmoded by time, a political patronage.
If approved on November 3, Charter Amendment LA would substantially change the department’s control and governance, clarifying authority, strengthening accountability, and improving delivery of the infrastructure we fund and rely on.
I welcome the amendment’s appearance on the ballot. I have long argued that Public Works was out of control and that it had become ineffective and stretched far beyond its original responsibilities.
At the beginning it was a reasonable concept, a place to house all city physical infrastructure projects by forming one entity with multiple obligations. But, with time, it became a colossal body that vainly oversaw tasks ranging from construction of bridges to wastewater treatment plants, to graffiti removal, trash collection, and streetlight maintenance.
It even took on disparate tasks such as the city’s minimum wage standard and developing strategies to rebuild the economy, reduce inequality and address climate change.
Los Angeles' Department of Public Works is currently governed by a five-member, full-time, paid Board of Public Works. The official ballot question says the measure would increase the authority of the Director of Public Works and allow for the elimination or restructuring of the Board of Public Works.
After years of waiting, change may finally be at hand. This is not merely an advisory commission. The city's Administrative Code gives the board specific governmental authority, including establishing rules and regulations for the governance of public works, as well as authority concerning public-works contracts and construction, maintenance, and design.
Restructuring or eliminating this board would be a welcome change. Giving the director greater authority could streamline Public Works decisions, speed infrastructure maintenance and repairs, and improve basic city services. Eliminating five full-time, paid commissioner positions could yield substantial salary, personal secretary, car, office space etc.—potentially approaching millions annually.
While the five-member board today leads the department, collective decision making makes it nearly impossible to pinpoint responsibility for failures. Under the ballot amendment, the director would manage public-works projects and exercise responsibilities involving construction, property acquisition or leasing, street permits, parking regulation and proposed departmental budgets.
I have long supported governance that acts quickly and makes responsibility and accountability clear. When streets deteriorate, sidewalks remain broken and infrastructure projects stall, taxpayers should not have to wade through bureaucracy to find who is accountable. Give a professional Director of Public Works the authority to run the department—and the Mayor, City Council, Controller and public the tools to hold that director accountable for results.
For years I have yearned for Public Works restructuring, particularly because its commissioners receive substantial salaries while all other city and county commissioners serve without pay. Worse, major unavoidable problems have resulted because the board is generally comprised of community organizers, advocates for numerous public causes, and ardent political hacks who are viewed as patronage appointees.
Consequently, I believe, they do not have the technical knowledge and experience to oversee multi-million-dollar infrastructure projects that ALWAYS come in late or over budget and add heavily to the cost.
For example, the La Kretz Bridge, part of the Los Angeles River Revitalization Project, had a cost estimate of $4.67 million yet ended up with a $16.1 million price tag. Public Works cost estimates are outdated and regularly inaccurate, forcing OTHER city agencies to reject bids, thus punishing contractors who had spent thousands of dollars to prepare them.
I served under Mayors Antonio Villaraigosa and Eric Garcetti as their unpaid person to oversee numerous public projects, witnessed firsthand the lackof accountability, technical irregularities and management anomalies, and verified the necessity for immediate changes in public works.
I remember that Mayor Richard Riordan had pledged to abolish the public works board to save money. He had asked the commissioners to effectively work themselves out of a job and had planned to eliminate $5 million from the budget. Unpaid volunteers would replace them. But the action required the approval of the City Council, which rejected the mayor’s proposal influenced by special interest groups.
What can we expect to gain with the passage of Charter Amendment LA? Certainly, one accountable executive whose performance can be evaluated. Of course, faster decision making without the need to debate each decision with a multi-member body.
In brief, we will create a more conventional executive structure where the director manages, elected officials provide political and budgetary oversight, and the public evaluates the results.
The City Council has been called upon numerous times by this writer to display fortitude and wisdom and establish a different, more rational outcome by restructuring public works. It has failed.
Now, we have the opportunity to do so. I SUPPORT PASSAGE OF CHARTER AMENDMENT LA!
*(**Nick Patsaouras** is an electrical engineer, civic leader, and a longtime public advocate. He ran for Mayor in 1993 with a focus on rebuilding L.A. through transportation after the 1992 civil unrest. He has served on major public boards, including the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Metro, and the Board of Zoning Appeals, helping guide infrastructure and planning policy in Los Angeles. He is the author of the book "The Making of Modern Los Angeles.")*
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