I voted stickers await voters next to ballots at the polls set up in Eastham Town Hall. Voters were being asked to spend money on a wastewater and sewer project. Photo taken June 24, 2025
Los Angeles, California – Los Angeles County supervisors will meet Tuesday to confront an unexpected and deeply consequential ballot blunder—one that has accidentally repealed a voter-approved measure directing public funds away from incarceration and toward community services.
At the center of the confusion is a mistake buried in the county charter, triggered when voters approved Measure G in November 2023. That sweeping measure was designed to expand the size of the Board of Supervisors and establish a new, elected county executive. But in the process, Measure G unintentionally repealed 2020’s Measure J, a landmark initiative that guaranteed a share of the county’s general fund would be spent on alternatives to incarceration, including youth programs, job training, and mental health services.
The error came to light last week, when John Fasana, a Duarte City Councilmember and member of the task force formed to implement Measure G, noticed that Measure J had never been added to the county charter. As a result, the approval of Measure G wiped J from the books entirely. The revelation has sparked a heated debate about how to proceed—and who, if anyone, should be held accountable.
While county counsel has confirmed the repeal, officials insist that funding for Measure J programs will continue. The Board of Supervisors adopted a policy mirroring J’s objectives, meaning no immediate impact on services is expected. But critics argue that leaving a voter-approved mandate outside of the charter—and instead up to board discretion—makes those funds vulnerable to political shifts.
The oversight has reopened old wounds. Measure G passed narrowly and was opposed by some community advocates who felt it was rushed and lacked meaningful public input. Now, critics like Fasana and fellow task force member Derek Steele argue that the charter should be amended to reinsert Measure J, and that parts of Measure G—especially the elected executive provision—should be put back before voters in 2026.
Supporters of Measure G, however, are calling the timing of the discovery suspicious. Some on the task force view the sudden spotlight on Measure J’s omission as a strategic effort to stall or even dismantle the implementation of Measure G altogether.
As supervisors prepare to meet in downtown Los Angeles, they are expected to consider a motion from Supervisors Lindsey Horvath and Janice Hahn that would direct county staff to explore options for resolving the error—potentially including a narrowly tailored fix in the 2026 election. But for the moment, a clear policy endorsed by voters has been erased, and the county’s leadership must now figure out how to restore it without undermining public trust.
In a county as large and complex as Los Angeles, small bureaucratic mistakes can have massive ripple effects. This one might require voters to return to the ballot box just to correct a mistake they never knew they made.
