UPDATE - June 22, 2020

We’re happy to release a recording of the LA Civics 101 teach-in that we did earlier this month.

Are you discovering the power of local government for the first time? Confused by what you're learning? Want to get educated so you can be effective in making sure our budgets and policies reflect our values? Listen to a recording of our 2020 teach-in on LA Civics 101 to get an overview of the nuts and bolts of local government.

What's the difference between LA City and LA County? What about the 87 other cities in LA County? What kind of power does the LA City Council have compared to the Mayor compared to the County Board of Supervisors? What's the role of the City Attorney (Mike Feuer), the District Attorney (Jackie Lacey), and the County Sheriff (Alex Villanueva)? We can't promise we'll answer all your questions but we'll sure as hell will try!

Listen below or wherever you get your podcasts by searching for “LA Forwards and Backwards” and finding the LA Civics 101 episode. Direct links to the episode here: Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Update - July 12, 2020

As part of our LA Civics 101 series, we hosted a session on the basics of the smallest bodies of government. In the City of LA, those are Neighborhood Councils. We were fortunate to be joined by two NC leaders — Eryn Block, Palms NC President and Lauren Buisson, Echo Park NC CIO — who shared their experiences with this imperfect system and talk about how progressives can work to leverage it for justice. We also had a great conversation with Culver City Councilmember Daniel Lee who shared what his experience getting elected as a staunch progressive to lead a small city and how regular people can be effective in fighting for social justice locally — from big picture strategy to little things like giving effective public comment.

More on the LA 101 Guide

We're working on a new kind of guide — one that builds upon the comprehensive, accessible LA Forward voter guides that 100,000 Angelenos rely upon every election. We're calling it the LA 101 Guide and it's designed to help you understand how local government really works and how you can make a difference.

Why? LA County, with more than 10 million residents, has a larger population than all but 8 states. And it's governed entirely by five County Supervisors and a popularly elected Sheriff and District Attorney. There are 88 (!) cities in the County which have exclusive control over housing and development within their boundaries.

LA 101 will help you cut through the confusion and get the answers all your questions, even the ones you didn’t know you had. It’ll cover key elected and appointed officials, the main levers of powers, how everyday Angelenos can make an impact, and more.