> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.losangelesrules.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # L.A. County reformers nailed their summer sprint. Please don’t tell anyone. - URL: https://www.losangelesrules.com/l-a-county-reformers-nailed-their-summer-sprint-please-dont-tell-anyone/ - Published: 2026-09-22T15:25:30.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-22T15:25:29.000Z - Author: Robert Greene - Tags: #Newsletter The Board of Supervisors is to[ consider the nomination of Michael K. Woo](https://www.instagram.com/p/DdkVKKiD9Og/?ref=losangelesrules.com) to the new county Ethics Commission on Sept. 29, according to a social media post late Monday. The item has yet to be listed on the board's[ meeting log](https://assets-us-01.kc-usercontent.com/0234f496-d2b7-00b6-17a4-b43e949b70a2/f1dba3e8-22b9-45c2-bf87-bc565e6d4eed/092926%5Fonline.pdf?ref=losangelesrules.com) for that date. Woo is a former Los Angeles City Council member and one of the architects of the Los Angeles *City* Ethics Commission in 1990\. After the City Council rejected his proposal, it[ went to the ballot](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-03-16-me-206-story.html?ref=losangelesrules.com) as Proposition H. The nomination came from the county's[ Governance Reform Task Force](https://measureg.lacounty.gov/governance-reform-task-force/?ref=losangelesrules.com), which interviewed Woo and five other finalists for the position in a remarkably public process at the beginning of a very long session on Sept. 16. “I bring a unique background from my years of public service a few blocks away at 200 N. Spring Street, some 36 years ago,” Woo told the Task Force. Members deliberated behind closed doors for nearly six hours of a nine-hour session, then emerged just before 10:30 p.m. to[ announce that they had picked Woo](https://www.losangelesrules.com/county-ethics-commission-gets-real/). Last week, the supervisors confirmed the first two nominees to the seven-member commission. They are[ Wilma A. Franco](https://www.selacollab.org/sela-staff/?ref=losangelesrules.com), the executive director of the Southeast Los Angeles Collaborative, nominated by board chair Hilda Solis; and attorney and nonprofit leader[ Amanda Susskind](https://www.americantheatre.org/2024/07/11/amanda-susskind-named-managing-director-of-shakespeare-center-los-angeles/?ref=losangelesrules.com), nominated by Assessor Jeffrey Prang. Franco and Susskind, together with Woo if he is confirmed, will select another four. Measure G, the county governance overhaul approved by voters in 2024, requires a county Ethics Commission to be in place this year. Its size, method of selection and other key attributes were[ designed by the Task Force](https://assets-us-01.kc-usercontent.com/0234f496-d2b7-00b6-17a4-b43e949b70a2/4d003d8f-a856-468b-bb76-fbfab195e86c/Ethics%20Subcomittee%20Report%20to%20GRTF%20-%20March%2025%2C%202026.pdf?ref=losangelesrules.com) after months of hearings and approved in May by the Board of Supervisors. The Task Force also called for another charter amendment to protect the new panel's independence. The board agreed and put it on the Nov. 3 ballot as[ Measure E](https://ballotpedia.org/Los%5FAngeles%5FCounty,%5FCalifornia,%5FMeasure%5FE,%5FEthics%5FCommission%5FMeasure%5F%28November%5F2026%29?ref=losangelesrules.com). Last week's Task Force session capped a long and grueling summer sprint during which it sent key reform recommendations to the Board of Supervisors: The shape of the Ethics Commission; a new [timeline for posting board agendas](https://assets-us-01.kc-usercontent.com/0234f496-d2b7-00b6-17a4-b43e949b70a2/65a94536-e0e4-4d4e-baac-372b6a6071d6/GRTF%20120-hour%20Recommendations%20Board%20Letter%20and%20Appendices%20DRAFT%207-17-26.pdf?ref=losangelesrules.com);[ key features of the yet-to-be-elected county executive post](https://assets-us-01.kc-usercontent.com/0234f496-d2b7-00b6-17a4-b43e949b70a2/81283814-5ae2-4408-b75a-a3435685a8d4/GRTF%5F%20Recommendations%20from%20the%20Elected%20Executive%20to%20the%20GRTF-FINAL.pdf?ref=losangelesrules.com); plans to create and immediately launch a new county legislative analyst position; a new Office of Budget and Management; and Woo's nomination. The executive, analyst and budget position recommendations[ are to be screened](https://file.lacounty.gov/SDSInter/clusteragendas/1217934%5F09.23.26Agenda.pdf?ref=losangelesrules.com) by board staff on Wednesday in a "cluster" meeting and are scheduled to come to the board on Oct. 6. “This is kind of a big deal,” Task Force member Derek Steele said to a nearly empty auditorium as the capstone meeting got underway last week. So where was everybody? Where were the reporters? Where was the public? Steele, the executive director of the Social Justice Learning Institute, said it again: “I just wanted to ask, because this is pretty much a big deal – What efforts did we do from an outreach standpoint, to just make sure the public knew exactly what was coming on…about the open opportunity to hear from the candidates?” Task Force Chair Pro Tem Sara Sadhwani, a politics professor at Pomona College and the group's leader on ethics recommendations, added: “I'll say I had suggested, also, media outreach,” What a great story it would make, to raise awareness about the ongoing county reforms, encourage people to learn about them and participate in the continuing discussions, and increase the chance that residents will see the roll-out of the new county government as transparent and legitimate, and not the result of some back-room shenanigans. Was there a press release? A media advisory? Something to convey the weight, the distinctiveness, of what was about to unroll, and to maybe accord the Task Force members just a sliver of acknowledgement? A line in the daily City News Service budget for news organizations, perhaps, and a couple paragraphs describing and linking to [Measure G](https://haynesfoundation.org/la-county-reform/?ref=losangelesrules.com), the [Task Force report on the new Ethics Commission](https://assets-us-01.kc-usercontent.com/0234f496-d2b7-00b6-17a4-b43e949b70a2/8fb9c3bb-b2e6-4aa7-be9d-9cd959ec8e39/GRTF%20Ethics%20Recommendations%20-%20Final%20Report.pdf?ref=losangelesrules.com), its [report on the county executive](https://assets-us-01.kc-usercontent.com/0234f496-d2b7-00b6-17a4-b43e949b70a2/81283814-5ae2-4408-b75a-a3435685a8d4/GRTF%5F%20Recommendations%20from%20the%20Elected%20Executive%20to%20the%20GRTF-FINAL.pdf?ref=losangelesrules.com), to distribute to producers and editors looking to fill 15 seconds of airtime or half a column inch of print? Nah. People who had already signed up through [GovDelivery](https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/CALACOUNTY/subscriber/new?ref=losangelesrules.com) (if you know, well, good for you) got an agenda. There was a “[tweet](https://x.com/LACountyGRTF/status/2099612491332411434?ref=losangelesrules.com).” Good enough, right? Nine hours later, after Woo's nomination was announced, Steele asked again. “There is a press release about today's decision that's going out about Mr. Woo?” he asked. “I just want to clarify how this is being communicated to the public.” Executive Director Shadi Kardan said she’d make sure the communications team sends something out. “So I guess the request is for the transmission to the Board of Supervisors but also a media advisory,” Sadhwani added. Just so there was no room for misunderstanding. But there was no media advisory. I asked Kardan about it by email. The response came from Brandon Dowling, one of two former Los Angeles County officials who head Postscript Strategy, a public information and crisis communications firm with which the county has contracted to handle the Task Force’s media needs. Dowling directed me to a[ post on the Task Force website](https://assets-us-01.kc-usercontent.com/0234f496-d2b7-00b6-17a4-b43e949b70a2/9f9de661-62ec-4ce0-b492-9a87b4bc5d6f/GRTF%20Ethics%20nominee%20website%20announcement.pdf?ref=losangelesrules.com), which, of course, members of the public will read only if they have reason to check out the Task Force website. He said there would be a media release closer to the date that the Board of Supervisors considers the nomination. I'm anxiously waiting. --- **Cluster talk**. The Board of Supervisors' [Operations Cluster](https://file.lacounty.gov/SDSInter/clusteragendas/1217934%5F09.23.26Agenda.pdf?ref=losangelesrules.com) is scheduled to take up the Task Force’s county executive, county legislative analyst and office of budget and management [recommendations](https://assets-us-01.kc-usercontent.com/0234f496-d2b7-00b6-17a4-b43e949b70a2/81283814-5ae2-4408-b75a-a3435685a8d4/GRTF%5F%20Recommendations%20from%20the%20Elected%20Executive%20to%20the%20GRTF-FINAL.pdf?ref=losangelesrules.com) on Wednesday at 2 p.m. Task Force Chair Nancy Yap and committee Co-Chair David Phelps are scheduled to speak to representatives of each supervisor. Instructions for joining the meeting in person or virtually are on the [linked agenda](https://file.lacounty.gov/SDSInter/clusteragendas/1217934%5F09.23.26Agenda.pdf?ref=losangelesrules.com). The Board is expected to consider the recommendations for the three new positions on Oct. 6. --- **County Kitty, City Kitty** Although the county’s online newsroom did not mention the Sept. 16 Task Force meeting, the Ethics Commission nomination or anything about the overhaul of county government, it did mention a [promotion from the Library Department](https://lacounty.gov/2026/09/16/la-county-library-launches-summer-programs-for-all-ages-2/?ref=losangelesrules.com), which was distributing special Hello Kitty and Friends library cards. Huge lines immediately formed at county libraries. And at City of L.A. libraries, which do not have Hello Kitty cards. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/7c/14/7c14f9c7-9fe2-4f5c-a02c-0c99e43c7e77/content/images/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-21-173043.png) The Van Nuys branch – again, city of L.A., not county – directed disappointed borrowers to the nearest county branch in San Fernando, 20 minutes away. Congratulations to the county employee who got hundreds of new borrowers to their libraries, and a hat-tip to whatever city library worker provided the valuable city-county jurisdiction explanation. We could use a governance lesson like that – something happy, as opposed to, say, [the Lineage Fire](https://thelalocal.org/news/lineage-assistance-resources-map-qualify/?ref=losangelesrules.com) – every week. --- **Rules to live by.** This newsletter goes to subscribers to [LosAngelesRules.com](http://losangelesrules.com/?ref=losangelesrules.com), which follows the changing rules of governance in Los Angeles County, the city of L.A. and some of the hundreds of other local jurisdictions in the region.