The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to place a measure on the Nov. 3 ballot that would restore funding for jail diversion and incarceration alternatives after a clerical error in 2024 accidentally eliminated the voter-approved funding mechanism. If approved by voters, the charter amendment would once again require a portion of the county budget to support programs such as mental health services, housing assistance, and other initiatives designed to keep people out of jail. Supporters say the measure corrects an administrative mistake and preserves the county’s commitment to investing in community-based alternatives to incarceration, while opponents have raised concerns about limiting budget flexibility. The proposal is intended to restore the policy that voters originally approved rather than create a new program, leaving the final decision to Los Angeles County voters in the November election.

Local ballot measures for the November general election are being finalized, with local jurisdictions facing an Aug. 7 deadline to complete them, according to the LA County Registrar’s office. At the county level, at least two countywide measures are expected. One would enshrine LA County’s new independent ethics commission into the county charter; the seven-member commission will enforce ethics laws, conduct investigations and levy penalties, with three members appointed by elected officials and the rest selected through a public application process. The Board of Supervisors is also using that measure to correct an administrative error discovered after Measure G passed, which inadvertently put Measure J and its mandated funding for community investment and alternatives to incarceration on the chopping block. A second county measure would require binding arbitration in certain labor disputes between the county and public safety organizations, covering unions representing firefighters, deputy sheriffs, sworn law enforcement supervisors and lifeguards; because these employees cannot strike under California law, the measure aims to equalize a power imbalance. At the city level, Angelenos will decide a half-cent sales tax to fund the Los Angeles Fire Department, plus six charter reform measures covering ethics and campaign finance rules, doubling the Recreation and Parks Department’s budget percentage over time, moving the city to a two-year budget cycle, removing a restriction on commercial activities, changing lowest-bidder contracting rules, and requiring a capital infrastructure plan. The City Council controversially opted to forgo a slate of major changes, including measures on LAPD oversight and expanding the City Council.

The Los Angeles City Council unanimously postponed a Nov. 3 ballot measure that would have allowed noncitizens, including lawful permanent residents (green card holders) and DACA recipients, to vote in city and school board elections after Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez withdrew his proposal, citing concerns raised by African American community leaders and fellow council members about voter protections and the potential misuse of voter data by ICE. The council also voted 8-6 to delay a separate measure that would have granted council members direct policymaking authority over the LAPD following a threatened lawsuit from the police union, which argued the city failed to fulfill its legal obligation to meet and confer. Both measures, along with previously shelved proposals to expand the City Council from 15 to 25 members and implement ranked-choice voting, will be sent to committee for possible consideration in a future election, bringing the year-long Charter Reform Commission process to an anticlimactic close.