The Los Angeles Common Council was the predecessor of the Los Angeles, California, City Council. It was formed in 1850 under state law, when the city had only 1,610 residents, and it existed until 1889, when the city had about 50,400 residents and a

city charter A city charter or town charter (generically, municipal charter) is a legal document (''charter'') establishing a municipality such as a city or town. The concept developed in Europe during the Middle Ages. Traditionally the granting of a charter ...

was put into effect. From 1850 through 1869, council members were elected at large under a

first-past-the-post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...

voting system, in which the top vote-getters were seated. From 1870 they were elected by electoral districts called

wards Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...

History

The Los Angeles Common Council was created in 1850 as the city of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

grew from a remote town of 5,000 residents to a city of 15,000 residents. Between its creation in 1850 to 1858, the council had 7 seats and for two years after had 10 seats drawn by lots. From 1870 to 1889, the council had a ward system with three (until 1877) and five (1877 onwards) seats. The Council had various responsibilities for governing the city, including the responsibility of governing the school system as several members were appointed to serve on a committee for the governance of schools. In 1857, the officials that were elected on May 6 were deposed and the officials from the previous year were reinstated, though they never took office.Chronological Record of Los Angeles City Officials,1850-1938,'' 1867-1868 section, page 1, second iteration

Members

At-large (1850–1870)

Wards (1870–1889)

References

Notes

* Except for the population figures (see below), all data is from ''Chronological Record of Los Angeles City Officials,1850-1938,'' compiled under direction of Municipal Reference Library, City Hall, Los Angeles (March 1938, reprinted 1966). "Prepared ... as a report on Project No. SA 3123-5703-6077-8121-9900 conducted under the auspices of the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...