Governing Structure

At least once every year (usually in April or May), SCAG convenes the General Assembly to bring together the official representatives of SCAG's membership and help set the agency's course for the coming year.

The General Assembly is a forum where policy matters can be identified and addressed. Any city or county representative may propose a subject for study by the Association, provided that the representative has notified the President of the proposal 45 days in advance of the General Assembly meeting. Such a proposal should be submitted in the form of a resolution to the SCAG Regional Council. The President then appoints a Resolutions Committee to consider each resolution and make recommendations for action to the Regional Council, which is then forwarded to the General Assembly for consideration. If a resolution is presented directly to the General Assembly, a two-thirds vote is required for its consideration. Amendments to SCAG's Bylaws may also be considered at the General Assembly. A Bylaws Committee is appointed by the President to review amendments. Recommendations are forwarded to the Regional Council for approval. The Regional Council will then forward their recommendations to the General Assembly for consideration. A quorum of the General Assembly consists of official representation from one-third of the member cities and one-third of the member counties.

Delegates and alternatives from each member city are selected by the mayor, except that one of the official representatives of the City of Los Angeles is always the mayor. Counties are represented by either the chair or member of the county board of supervisors from each member county. Any official representative may call for special meetings of the General Assembly upon written request of 15 member cities and three member counties. Each member county and each member city has one official representative and one alternate in the General Assembly, except the City of Los Angeles, which has three official representatives and three alternates due to its population size. Member cities and counties must communicate the names of their official representatives and alternates to SCAG within 45 days before the annual meeting of the General Assembly.

In addition, members of the General Assembly also consider for adoption SCAG's General Fund budget for the next fiscal year. Finally SCAG's new President, Vice President and Second Vice President are announced for the coming year.

Regional Council

SCAG's policy direction is guided by the 83-member official governing board known as the Regional Council. The Regional Council is composed of 67 Districts that include an elected representative of one or more cities of approximately equal population levels that have a geographic community of interest (except the City of Long Beach, which has two representatives). Additionally, membership in SCAG's Regional Council includes one representative from each county Board of Supervisors (except the County of Los Angeles, which has two representatives). SCAG's Regional Council also includes one representative of the Southern California Native American Tribal Governments. Finally, all members of the Los Angeles City Council are each considered members of the SCAG Regional Council, and the Mayor of the City of Los Angeles, serves as the Los Angeles City At-Large Representative.

Executive Administration Committee

The Regional Council established the Executive Administration Committee to deal with matters pertaining to human resources, budgets, finance, operations, communications and any other matter referred by the Regional Council. Membership on the Executive Administration Committee includes SCAG officers, policy committee chairs and vice chairs, and one Tribal Government representative if that person is not in a committee leadership role. Additional Regional Councilmembers are appointed by the President to make sure that every subregion has at least one member on the committee.

The Executive Administration Committee is responsible for developing policy recommendations to the Regional Council on administration, human resources, budgets, finance, operations, communications, or any other matter specifically referred to the Committee by the Regional Council.

Policy Committees and Task Forces

As a Regional Councilmember, you will have a voting seat on one of SCAG's three major policy committees:

  • Community, Economic and Human Development Committee (CEHD)
  • Energy and Environment Committee (EEC)
  • Transportation Committee (TC)

Members of the Regional Council are appointed to one of the policy committees for two-year terms. Most of the discussion and debate on the "nuts and bolts" of a policy issue occurs in the committees. Issues to be considered by the Regional Council must come through one or more of the committees. As opposed to Regional Councilmembers, members of policy committees do not have to be elected officials.

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SCAG Strategic Plan: Click image to download