Sec. 581. Board of Public Works.

   Members of the Board of Public Works shall devote their entire time to the duties of office. Subject to the Charter and applicable ordinances and law, the board shall have the power and duty to:

   (a)   set policy for and manage the Department of Public Works;

   (b)   establish procedures for the examination, consideration and preparation of requests for proposals or bids, and for the advertisement and establishment of the amount of the required bond, all as provided by Sections 370 through 378 and related ordinances, for any work or improvements;

   (c)   approve the award of contracts;

   (d)   fix the time when work shall be commenced and completed in accordance with applicable law;

   (e)   exercise the power of eminent domain, subject to Council authorization, and lease or purchase property on behalf of the City for the construction and maintenance of public works projects;

   (f)   exercise the powers and duties imposed by law or delegated by the Council relating to the award of contracts for work specified in Section 580 and the determination of benefits, damages and costs incident to a proposed change or improvement of any public place, right-of-way or property belonging to the City and the making and levying of assessments upon property to cover the damages and costs;

   (g)   conduct hearings and hear appeals as authorized by ordinance relating to the work of the department, including hearings pertaining to special assessments;

   (h)   on its own initiative or upon complaint, investigate departmental operations and acts of employees and report findings to the Director of Public Works, the Mayor and the Council;

   (i)   approve specifications for public works construction projects;

   (j)   accept completed public works projects, provided that the board may delegate to the Director of Public Works the authority to accept projects involving less than one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) or such other amount prescribed by the board;

   (k)   make recommendations about short- and long-range public works plans and programs to the Mayor and Council; and

   (l)   annually present to the Council at its meeting in the second week of July, a report for the previous fiscal year stating the amount of proceeds from the sale of bonds, the purposes for which those proceeds have been expended, the amount expended, the balance in each bond fund and other information and suggestions as it deems appropriate.

   The Board of Public Works shall have power to proceed with all such construction and maintenance, and to carry out any of the purposes herein mentioned from any funds under its control and available for such purposes; provided, that nothing in this section shall be construed to abridge the power of the Council to order any work or improvements and to provide the manner of paying therefor, such work or improvement, however, to be done under the superintendence and control of the Board of Public Works.

Sec. 582. Director of Public Works

   There shall be a chief administrative officer of the Department of Public Works, known as the Director of Public Works, who shall be appointed and removed as provided in Section 508. Instead of those powers and duties set forth in Section 509, the director shall have the power and duty to:

   (a)   enforce all orders, rules and regulations adopted by the board;

   (b)   administer contracts;

   (c)   supervise and manage construction and maintenance work authorized by the board;

   (d)   approve those public works contracts within the authority delegated to the Director by the board or by ordinance;

   (e)   grant street encroachment and other permits necessary for the temporary use of City rights-of-way;

   (f)   make recommendations to the board about short- and long-range public works plans and programs;

   (g)   oversee the functions of departmental accounting and management-employee services including any bureaus charged with performing those functions, and issue instructions to, appoint, discharge, suspend and transfer the employees that perform those functions, all subject to the civil service provisions of the Charter;

   (h)   recommend to the board prior to the beginning of each fiscal year an annual departmental budget covering the anticipated revenues and expenditures of the department, conforming so far as practicable to the forms and dates provided in Article III in relation to the general City budget; and

   (i)   file with the board and the Mayor a written report on the work of the department on a regular basis as requested by the Mayor or board.

RECREATION AND PARKS DEPARTMENT

Sec. 590. Powers and Duties of the Department.

   The Department of Recreation and Parks shall have the power and duty:

   (a)   to establish, construct, maintain, operate and control, wherever located:

   (1)   all parks of the City of Los Angeles;

   (2)   all recreational facilities, museums, observatories, municipal auditoriums, sports centers and all lands, waters, facilities or equipment set aside or dedicated for recreational purposes and public enjoyment; and

   (3)   all property acquired by it or assigned to its jurisdiction for public recreation.

   (b)   to design, construct and operate, lease, rent or sell concessions or privileges to be exercised for the benefit, education, amusement, convenience or enjoyment of the public, in connection with any function, site or facility under the jurisdiction of the department;

   (c)   to establish schedules of charges for special services;

   (d)   to promote public recreation and cooperate with other public agencies and organizations for that purpose; and

   (e)   to establish, maintain and operate playgrounds or other recreational facilities upon portions of public streets, under terms and conditions provided by ordinance.

Sec. 591. Board of Recreation and Park Commissioners.

   The Board of Recreation and Park Commissioners shall have the power:

   (a)   to control all recreation and park sites;

   (b)   to control, appropriate and expend all money in the Recreation and Parks Fund and authorize the City Treasurer to invest any surplus funds under its control in accordance with Section 303(b); and

   (c)   to organize the work of the department into divisions and to appoint an administrative officer for each division or for any group of divisions.

Sec. 592. Chief Administrative Officer of Recreation and Parks.

   The chief administrative officer of the Department of Recreation and Parks shall be appointed and removed as provided in Section 508.

Sec. 593. Financial Support.

   (a)   For the financial support of the Department of Recreation and Parks, there shall be appropriated an annual sum of not less than 0.0325% of assessed value of all property as assessed for City taxes.

   (b)   Additional appropriations may be made from the General Fund.

   (c)   All money derived from (a) or (b), plus all other sums received by the department shall be placed to the credit of the Recreation and Parks Fund.

   Except as provided in Section 342 with regard to funds appropriated from the General Fund to the Recreation and Parks Fund, money in the Recreation and Parks Fund shall be used only for the financial support of the Department of Recreation and Parks.

Sec. 594. Control and Management of Recreation and Park Lands.

   (a)   Management and Control. The Department of Recreation and Parks shall operate, manage and control all property now or hereafter owned or controlled by the City for public recreation, including parks, and shall have power in the name of the City to acquire and take by purchase, lease, condemnation, gift, in trust or otherwise, any and all property necessary or convenient for recreation, including park purposes.

   (b)   Acquisition of Property. No real property shall be acquired by the City for recreation sites, including parks, unless first approved by the Board of Recreation and Park Commissioners.

   (c)   Restrictions on Transfer of Dedicated Parks. All lands heretofore or hereafter set apart or dedicated as a public park shall forever remain for the use of the public inviolate; but the board may authorize use of the lands for any park purpose, and for:

   (1)   Easements or rights-of-way for any work, improvement or structure necessary and convenient for giving service to the City or its inhabitants in connection with any public utility owned by the City. Under similar circumstances, similar permission may be given to any private public utility holding a franchise, and limited to the life of the franchise. These easements or rights-of-way shall be subject to regulation by ordinance.

   (2)   Leases to the County of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Unified School District, the State of California, or the United States for a period not to exceed 50 years, of a site in any public park for the erection and maintenance of public buildings consistent with public park purposes.

   (3)   Taking and disposal of molding sand, or other natural resources under terms as the board may prescribe and in a manner as to work no substantial impairment of public use and enjoyment of the premises.

   (4)   Opening, establishment and maintenance of streets or other public ways in and through the park lands controlled by the board.

   (d)   Transfer to Purposes other than Recreation and Park Purposes. No sites under the management and control of the department shall be devoted or transferred to any other purpose in whole or in part, except in compliance with all of the following:

   (1)   Procedure. Any transfer shall require a resolution of the board, approved by the Council by ordinance, incorporating the prescribed terms and conditions to be observed by the permittee. However, Council approval shall not be required for the granting of leases of property not immediately needed for the purposes of the department for a term not to exceed three years.

   (2)   Restrictions on Transfer. No transfer shall be permitted if it would violate the provisions of subsection (c) of this section, or in any case where the proposed use violates a specific trust or dedication upon which the property was acquired.

   (3)   Requirement of Equivalent Property or Funds. If property to be transferred to another use has been acquired from funds specifically provided for the Department of Recreation and Parks or its predecessors, the department shall be assigned the equivalent in property or funds as a condition of transfer of the property from its control, when required by the board.

   (e)   Remaining Land Unsuitable for Park Use. Where lands forming a portion of an existing public park have been removed from the jurisdiction of the board by reason of their dedication or use for public purposes incompatible with park use, the remaining lands, or any portion thereof, within the park shall not be subject to the provisions of subsection (c) of this section in the event that:

   (1)   the board and Council find and determine that the remaining lands, or specific portion thereof, are unsuitable for further use as a public park; and

   (2)   lands of an area at least equal to the lands found to be unsuitable for further use as a public park are acquired in the same portion of the City and set apart or dedicated as a public park.

SECTION HISTORY

Amended by: Subsec. (c), Charter Amendment II, approved November 5, 2024, effective January 8, 2025.