Your donation today keeps LAist independent, ready to meet the needs of our city, and paywall free. Thank you for your partnership, we can't do this without you.
In the world of metropolitan mayors, there are so-called “weak” mayors and “strong” mayors. Those terms typically describe where they fall on a spectrum of strength, ranging from figurehead to overlord.
L.A.’s mayor doesn’t have the far-reaching powers of the two other biggest cities in the U.S. — and that’s by design. When the city charter was drawn up nearly 100 years ago, it was intentionally written to keep the mayor from setting up the type of political machines New York and Chicago are known for.
Still, serving as L.A.'s mayor is far from ceremonial. Instead, think of the mayor as a CEO: they can appoint commissioners and boot city officials.
They also handle the money; mayors must propose a budget (which must be approved by the City Council) and report to the council every year on how that money is spent.
The 15-member council is basically Los Angeles’ legislature. The mayor has veto power over new laws and line items in the budget, although the council can override a mayoral veto with a two-thirds vote.
The mayor does not have authority over the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). Day-to-day power belongs to the LAUSD Board of Education, which is elected by voters. This is one major way in which the job differs from that of New York’s mayor, who has had control over...
Exclusive His gubernatorial campaign blasted “flailing opponents who have sadly teamed up with MAGA conspiracy theorists because they know Eric Swalwell is the frontrunner in this race.” Rep. Eric ...