CITY OKS CHARTER ISSUE FOR '99 BALLOT.

Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer

As two reform panels move toward proposing a new City Charter, the Los Angeles City Council tentatively agreed Tuesday to a special process for putting such a large, complicated issue on the ballot next year in a way that is understandable to voters.

To handle the monumental task of proposing changes to a 694-page charter, the council gave more time to review proposed changes and draft a simplified ballot measure. The council also increased the number of words allowed in ballot arguments from 300 to 1,000 and the number of people allowed to sign the arguments.

``We will simply try to get this material down to a reasonable number of words and a reasonable reading level,'' said City Clerk Mike Carey.

Both the elected and appointed Charter Reform Commissions have vowed to trim the charter so that it deals only with the essence of municipal government.

The City Council has the power to review and modify any charter amendments proposed by the reform panel it appointed. The elected Charter Reform Commission has the power to have its reforms placed by the council directly on the ballot without council modification.

If the two panels recommend a joint proposal, the council could propose a modified version, but could not prevent the measure endorsed by the elected commission from going on the ballot unchanged, Carey said.

Under the new procedures endorsed Tuesday and set for a final vote next week, the Charter Reform Commissions would have to submit their proposals to the City Council for initial action by Nov. 24 rather than the now-required Dec. 24, with a final vote to put the measure on the ballot by Jan. 8.

In addition, the measures would be scrutinized by a simplification committee made up of Carey, Chief Legislative Analyst Ron Deaton, City Administrative Officer Keith Comrie, the chairmen of the two Charter Reform Commissions and two reading experts.

The proposals approved Tuesday were supported by Erwin Chemerinsky, chairman of the elected commission, and George Kieffer, chairman of the appointed commission, even though it might require them to complete their work earlier than previously anticipated.

Elected commission member Dennis Zine said he is not concerned that the review process might lead to attempts by the council to make fundamental changes to the elected panel's work.

``They won't be able to change anything,'' Zine said. ``We are not going to be influenced by their review and scrutiny.''

Councilman Nate Holden said the proposed charter changes will be too complex for one massive ballot measure.

``It gets to the point where one almost comes to the conclusion that this is a charter you can't change,'' Holden said.