Los Angeles, CA
Explore Los Angeles government
Your city, explained.
You don’t need to know which office to start with.
Find help with a local issue →How your city works
Elected by the whole city
Mayor · City Attorney · Controller
What does each office do?
Mayor: leads city government and proposes its budget.
City Attorney: advises and represents the City legally.
Controller: audits city operations and oversees accounting.
Elected by your district
You elect one of 15 Council members. Together, they make city laws and approve the budget.
How your county works
The County is a separate government serving all of Los Angeles County, including people who live in the City.
Five supervisors are elected by district. The Sheriff, District Attorney, and Assessor are elected countywide. The District Attorney is separate from the City Attorney.
Read the rings, from the center out
- Elected offices serving the whole city or county
- City Council districts 1–15 (City view)
- Boards & commissions: oversee specific areas
- Departments & bureaus: carry out services
Rings group offices; they do not show rank or who reports to whom.
Official city overviewSelect an office to see its role and connections. Your selection settles at the bottom of its ring.
No agencies match.
Hover or tap a shape to explore.
Elected office
Council or supervisor district
Board / commission
Department / bureau
Accountability path
Related, not reporting
Hover to see connections. Select an office to explore.
Ask away...
Elected officeDepartmentBoard / CommissionsSolid: documented · dashed: interpretive
YOUR REPRESENTATIVE
Who represents your address?
Find a City of Los Angeles Council district, then choose a next step.
Is this the right location?
Check the street number and direction carefully. This is an estimated street location, not a parcel survey. If it differs from your address, change the search.
Two governments serve this address. Your City Council member represents your district. County offices also serve you, including the District Attorney. This lookup does not yet identify your County supervisor district.
What needs attention?
A district identifies your representative. The service guide helps identify a starting contact; it cannot establish ownership of a particular bin or sidewalk.
Outside the City or unsure? Check the County service locator . An unmatched location does not establish whether it is another city or unincorporated County.
Need another way? Use the City’s official address lookup .
Coverage & sources
This first version accepts numbered street addresses. It does not locate intersections, County supervisor districts, or every municipality. Near-boundary results need official verification.
City Council district boundaries · snapshot September 24, 2026.
A FIRST STEP
Where do I start?
Choose what you see. Find an official place to begin.
Three example pathways · official handoffs only · no requests are submitted here. Coverage of other cities is still to be developed.
OFFICIAL LOCAL RESOURCES
Maps and neighborhood information to help you take the next step.
These resources serve the City of Los Angeles. Other cities and unincorporated LA County have different services.
Maps & boundaries
Explore a location in NavigateLA
Look up property, street, and infrastructure information on the City’s interactive map.
Browse official maps
Find prepared City maps, including Council district maps. Check each map’s date before using its boundaries.
Historic neighborhoods
Explore local historic districts
Find district boundary maps, preservation plans, board meeting information, and staff contacts. These districts are also called Historic Preservation Overlay Zones (HPOZs).
Use the official district map to check a property’s location. A neighborhood name alone does not establish whether it is in a historic district.
Links open official City websites in a new tab. A map alone does not establish who owns or maintains a particular bin, sidewalk, or other asset.
CITY OF LOS ANGELES
Meet your local government.
The Mayor and 15 council districts serve the City of Los Angeles. County supervisors represent a different government.
Neighborhood names below are headline labels supplied for orientation. Confirm your exact address and council district before contacting an office.
Follow the decisions.
News & official updates
Read announcements from the Mayor’s office. These are government publications, not an independent news feed.
Mayor’s press releasesMeetings & public records
Agendas and council files show what is proposed, discussed, and decided.
Council meetingsSearch council files
Education has its own board
LAUSD is a separate school district. Its seven board districts are different from City Council districts.
See the LAUSD board rosterFOLLOW THE DECISIONS
A budget is a set of priorities.
County and city budgets are separate. The guide below explains the City of Los Angeles process. For the County, start with the Chief Executive Office’s budget documents.
Read LA County budget documents
01 — 04
From a proposal
From a proposal
to public services.
The CAO publishes both proposed and adopted documents. Read the fiscal year and document status before comparing spending; a proposal is not the final budget.
Mayor
Prepares and submits the proposed city budget.
City Council
Reviews the proposal and acts on the city budget.
City departments
Deliver services within their approved spending authority.
Controller
Reports on city finances and audits city operations.
Follow Council File 26-0600
Read the documents and recorded actions behind this fiscal year’s city budget. The file preserves the decision trail rather than just a headline total.
Open the budget council fileProposed, adopted, actual
The proposal states intended spending. The adopted budget authorizes it. Financial reports help show what happened afterward. LADWP’s utility finances also have a different funding basis from general city services.
Read the CAO’s budget document guide Understand LADWP’s financingNo synthetic spending figures: department dollar comparisons are outside this review edition. Source review: September 18, 2026.
Participate in LA County decisions
Find your supervisorial district, follow Board meetings, or explore public commission hearings.
Find your districtThe neighborhood council and city meeting guidance below applies to the City of Los Angeles.
FROM UNDERSTANDING TO PARTICIPATION
Find your way into the conversation.
A service request, a council decision, and a neighborhood discussion have different entry points.
Start with your address.
The City’s Neighborhood Info tool identifies a council district from an address. LA has 15 City Council districts; familiar neighborhood names are not reliable district boundaries.
Find your council districtThere are 99 local councils.
Neighborhood Councils are community-level bodies, separate from the 15-member City Council. Volunteer board members help connect residents’ concerns with City Hall.
Learn about Neighborhood CouncilsFollow the council file.
Use Council files to follow proposals, reports, and votes. The City Clerk explains how to attend meetings and submit written comments. Check the relevant agenda for current participation instructions.
Find meetings and comment guidanceA pothole has a different path.
StreetsLA directs pothole requests to MyLA311. A case number lets residents reference a request, and the bureau inspects requests assigned to it before acting or referring them.
Read the official service instructionsWhich Los Angeles?
The County contains 88 cities and unincorporated communities. This atlas has separate County and City of Los Angeles views. Other cities, transit agencies, school districts, and special districts have their own responsibilities. Use the official locator before choosing a service channel.
Start at the City’s government directoryFROM UNDERSTANDING TO ACTION
Hurdles
A simple problem can require a complicated conversation. These are barriers a civic tool could help residents navigate.
1. Communicating the problem
Finding the right channel, describing the exact location, choosing a service category, waiting for a callback, and keeping track of a request can take more time than a resident has.
Design question: Could a resident describe what they see in everyday language, then review one clear report without repeating the story?
2. Overlapping responsibilities
The organization that owns a bin may differ from the team that empties it or approves its replacement. A service-area boundary can introduce another handoff.
Design question: Could the next responsible team accept the handoff while the resident follows one request?
ILLUSTRATIVE SCENARIO · NOT AN OFFICIAL PROCEDURE
One bin. Several different questions.
A resident wants a bin that keeps rubbish contained. Before a replacement can happen, someone must establish who owns it, who maintains it, who approves installation, and who will complete the work.
Identify the assetConfirm responsibilityAgree the next actionVerify the outcome
This generic example illustrates the coordination burden. It does not reproduce private correspondence or assign responsibility for a particular location.
SUGGESTED ACTION · PROPOSED PILOT
A citizen-to-municipal reporting network
Test whether a small, coordinated volunteer network can reduce reporting effort and improve confirmed bulky-item pickup.
A small, comparable test
- Three equal-radius areas, with equal team sizes and reporting hours.
- Canvass 6–12 hours before confirmed pickup days, only if the municipal partner confirms that this meets dispatch cutoffs.
- Photograph items, capture location when available, confirm the item’s map pin, and check for duplicates.
A municipal partner is essential
Seek authorized 311 API access or another agreed intake route, submission capacity, and a request acknowledgment for each accepted report. Access, timing, and operating arrangements have not been confirmed.
A photo’s coordinates may describe the camera position; the volunteer would still confirm the item location.
Measure effort and outcomes
Compare baseline conditions and repeated pickup cycles: reporting time, accepted requests, duplicate reports, confirmed collection, unresolved items, and municipal staff effort. Equal-radius areas may still have different street mileage and amounts of dumping.
Proposal only. No portal, automatic submission, volunteer authorization, or City partnership is active. A paid reporter’s success in a small area is a case study, not proof that the model scales across LA County.
CITY OF LOS ANGELES
Past motions & voting history
One decision, explained. See what was considered, how your representative voted, and where to read the official record.
One selected item from the September 18, 2026 Council meeting. Manually checked September 19, 2026. This is not a live feed, a complete meeting, or a claim to show the latest vote.
Recognizing The Talmadge as a historic landmark
Council District 10 · 3278 W. Wilshire Boulevard / 656–660 S. Berendo Street
11Yes
0No
4Absent
Adopted
Subject to reconsideration under Council Rule 51, as recorded on September 19.
What did this vote mean?
The Council approved including The Talmadge on the City’s list of Historic-Cultural Monuments. In everyday terms, it voted to formally recognize the property’s historic significance.
This was a designation decision. It did not approve a new housing development or allocate a cleanup budget.
Read the recommendations Council adoptedHow to read the result
All 11 members voting on this item voted yes. Four were recorded as absent for this vote; that does not establish their position or their attendance for the entire meeting.
These are elected officials’ votes—not a poll of residents. The Clerk’s recorded status is preserved here rather than treating adoption as proof that every later step is complete.
How each member voted
Select a member to explore their district in the graph.
How it reached a vote
- The Cultural Heritage Commission’s report entered the Council file.
- It was referred to the Planning and Land Use Management Committee.
- The committee recommended approval after an opportunity for public comment.
- The full Council adopted the item, subject to reconsideration.
Committee votes and full Council votes are separate decisions. The member list here shows only the September 18 Council vote.
Have your say on a future item
Find its Council file number, read what is proposed, and check the specific meeting agenda for current comment instructions and timing.
“I’m commenting on file [number]. I support, oppose, or suggest changing [proposal] because [local impact]. I’m asking the Council to [action].”Find upcoming meetings & agendas
Sources: City Clerk file and roll call · September 8 committee report. Plain-language explanations are editorial summaries. Follow the official file for later actions.
Government is easier to navigate when you can see the
connections.12 entities · source-linked profiles
Start with a question.
Follow an issue through governmentRESEARCH & METHODOLOGY
A local civic literacy prototype.
An independent Los Angeles County mockup inspired by CivLab’s SF Gov Graph, prepared for discussion and review.
Read the rings.
People sit at the center. Elected offices, boards, and departments occupy fixed rings so the map stays familiar as you explore. The rings group institution types; they do not create a universal chain of command.
Solid connections paraphrase documented roles. Dashed connections are editorial interpretations linking related responsibilities. Every relationship names its type and points to supporting sources in the profile.
Know the scope.
This edition maps 12 selected County entities and 70 City of Los Angeles entities, with five supervisors and 15 city council members. It is not a complete government model. Other municipal governments, many commissions, and regional agencies remain outside the detailed graph. Public Works bureaus are labeled explicitly in their profiles.
Check the evidence.
Profiles use publicly available County, City and agency materials, reviewed September 18, 2026. The elected roster: Clerk Posted 10/05/2026. Sources with older reference periods are labeled in the content. This is a manually curated snapshot, not a live feed.
Some official pages were available through search-indexed text when direct retrieval timed out. Links and officeholders should be rechecked before wider release. No generated news or invented spending figures are included.
Made for review.
The source package includes the interface, structured data, a source register, and review notes. No CivLab code, logos, or other assets are included; the fixed-ring approach is an acknowledged design inspiration.
Open source appendix & downloads →Download the structured dataset Explore the inspiration: CivLab SF Gov