2026 CANDIDATE SURVEY
Faizah Malik
Candidate for Los Angeles City Council District 11
To help foster greater discussion about reforming City Hall, we asked City of LA candidates to participate in a six question survey. Half of the questions seek general feedback, and the rest are issue specific.
Please note survey responses, candidate information, and website links are provided for informational/educational purposes only. Fair Rep LA is presenting these responses as submitted without edit, evaluation, or commentary. Fair Rep LA does not endorse, support, or oppose candidates or their responses in any way.
Survey Info:
-
Answers: Respondents were told that questions could be answered in 1-2 sentences, and that while additional context was welcome, the form had a 1,250 character limit for each question (approximately 200 words).
-
Resource Document: Additional background information was provided via a resource document.
-
Participation: Surveys were sent to all City of LA candidates qualified to appear on the ballot. This is a very busy time for candidates, so we appreciate everyone who made time to respond. Please avoid reading too much into a candidate’s lack of participation. We respect the limited bandwidth campaigns have, and it's possible that our request(s) may have been lost in their inbox.
-
Background: The City of Los Angeles is undergoing the first comprehensive review of our city’s governance structure in 27 years. The Charter Reform Commission recently transmitted a report containing over 60 recommendations to the City Council, who will soon be deciding what will be sent to the November ballot for potential approval by voters.
Enshire Controller’s Fraud, Waste, Abuse Function
Two-Year Operating Budget
Adopting a Capital Investment Program (CIP) on a five-year cycle, effective immediately
Establishing a Director of Public Works
Splitting the current functions of the elected City Attorney’s office into an elected City Prosecutor who prosecutes criminal cases, a City Attorney appointed by the Mayor who is the legal advisor and counsel for City departments, plus an Office of Legislative Counsel, to handle the drafting of legislation
Ensuring LAPD honors ordinances passed through normal City Council processes
While there is a commission proposal requiring the purchase of police insurance, it is not yet ready for adoption. There is a need to explore solutions for liabilities caused by the Police Department, as well as other departments (CF# 24-0600-S37), and I encourage that the Council ensures that these report backs are returned in time to make decisions for 2027-28 budget conversations in April 2027, since there is no timeline yet attached to the reports the Council has asked for.
Yes. Beyond the Commission’s current recommendations, I would like to see stronger land use and planning reforms. As someone who has worked on the New York City Council, I saw firsthand how New York’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) creates a more predictable process for reviewing major land use decisions. I believe Los Angeles should explore reforms that similarly streamline approvals where appropriate, creating certainty for developers, city departments, and constituents. Second, I believe we should revisit aspects of the city’s public campaign financing system. I strongly support public financing because it helps candidates without personal wealth or wealthy networks compete. However, I also believe the current system has gaps that should be addressed. For example, in New York City, there are spending caps tied to participation in the public financing program. While there is little that can legally be done to fully control independent expenditures, it is worth examining whether public financing rules in L.A should better account for the realities of outside spending. I believe future reforms should consider whether there should be limits, thresholds, or adjustments to public financing eligibility.
I support increasing the number of members of the Los Angeles City Council as part of meaningful charter reform to improve representation in our city. Los Angeles’s City Council has had 15 members since 1925, when the city’s population was under 600,000. Today, with nearly 4 million residents, each councilmember represents roughly 265,000 people, among the largest councilmember‑to‑resident ratios in the country, far higher than cities like New York or Chicago. I have followed the Charter Reform Commission process closely and remain engaged in this work. The Commission explored a range of options, proposals for 21, 25, 23, or even 31 seats, to better match a council size to the complexity and diversity of Los Angeles. While the Commission has landed on a recommendation of 25 members, I want to continue to understand whether 25 is truly the right number to bring the structural change we need. At the same time, we still need to address the underlying bureaucracy and structural inefficiencies within the city government. Without that, expansion alone risks simply introducing more layers of management, more bottlenecks, and more places for things to go wrong.
I support Ranked Choice Voting, since there are real benefits to a system that could encourage more collaborative campaigns and allow voters to better express their preferences without worrying about costly runoff elections. But I also think we need to be thoughtful about implementation. It’s important that we make sure voters fully understand the system, that we ensure communities that are already underrepresented are not further confused or disengaged, that we build the administrative infrastructure to make it work effectively.
Yes, I support the Commission’s recommendation to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in local municipal elections, and I also support non-citizen voting in local elections. Young people and immigrant residents are directly affected by decisions made by the city and the Los Angeles Unified School District, and both groups play an active role in shaping and contributing to our communities. Expanding participation can incentivize life-long civic engagement and make local government more representative of the people it serves