MOTION -- The Los Angeles Municipal Code (“LAMC”) includes at least 200 instances in which it presumes the genders of city officials and members of the public. Some examples include:
“...The Mayor is hereby empowered to declare the existence of a local emergency or disaster when he finds that any of the circumstances described in Section 8.22 hereof exist…” (Sec. 8.27); “...the City Attorney shall determine whether or not he should represent the officer or employee as requested” (Sec. 11.39); “...It shall be the duty of any person after he has served his employment with any private patrol or bank…” (Sec. 52.13). "...the Chairman of the Budget and Finance Committee, the Chairman of the Land Use Management Committee, and the Chairman of the Commerce, Energy and Natural Resources Committee" (Sec.8.1)
Such language is inaccurate. The current Mayor and City Attorney, for example, are both women who use she/her pronouns. The LAMC should be amended to reflect the gender diversity of our city leadership.
I THEREFORE MOVE that the City Council request the City Attorney prepare an ordinance to remove all references to gender from the Los Angeles Municipal Code and replace those references with the name of the office or title of the position.