Candidate for
Council Member; City of Los Angeles; District 3

STEVEN E. PRESBERG is a Senior Personnel Analyst and the Executive Director of the Office of Discrimination Complaint Resolution of the City of Los Angeles. His responsibilities are to investigate charges of discrimination and other wrongdoing across all City departments. He is a management advocate in disciplinary and labor relations matters before the Civil Service Commission and Employee Relations board, including hearings, appeals and arbitrations. He also serves as a Hearing Officer for Los Angeles County in employment and civil service disputes.

He is a former Assistant Deputy Mayor in the administration of Mayor Richard J. Riordan where he was a liaison to the Police Commission, and worked on budget and City Charter related issues.

Steven, 59, is best known for his outstanding work as the Chief Policy Analyst & Counsel for the Los Angeles Elected Charter Reform Commission which during 1997-99 overhauled the City Charter for the first time in 75 years. He was the principal author and negotiator for the 15-member commission led by chairman Erwin Chemerinsky, the renowned law school dean and constitutional scholar.

Steven worked closely with his counterparts on the Appointed Charter Reform Commission created by the City Council and which operated simultaneously and ultimately in alliance with, the Elected Commission. The result was the "unified charter" that went directly to the ballot and won with 60% of the vote in 1999.The Elected Commission included future City Council members Dennis Zine, Nick Pacheco and Janice Hahn.

Steven's extensive experience in urban affairs and municipal law helped to shape a new relationship between the powers of the Mayor and City Council, and the creation of new departments including Neighborhood Councils, Finance, Area Planning Commissions, Redistricting Commission, and Emergency Management, among others. His work on charter reform was lauded by Mayor Riordan and cited in newspaper editorials. His and the works of both Commissions are detailed in the recent book The City at Stake: Secession, Reform and the Battle for Los Angeles (Princeton University Press) by Raphael J. Sonenshein.

Prior to moving to Los Angeles, Steven was in private law practice in New York City. He had previously served as Acting City Clerk and Deputy City Clerk of the City of New York; Administrative Law Judge for the Human Rights Commission; Deputy Counsel for the Manhattan Borough President; and an Analyst for the City Controller. He was a candidate for Judge of the New York Civil Court and is a veteran of numerous political campaigns including the election of New York's first African-American Mayor, David N. Dinkins.

Steven is a Juris Doctor graduate of New York Law School and is admitted to practice in New York and several U.S. Federal Courts. He also holds a Master of Arts degree in Public Policy & Administration and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Binghamton University of the State University of New York. He was awarded the Public Service Fellowship by the U.S. Department of Heath, Education and Welfare (HEW).

Steven and Rosa reside in Woodland Hills.