John F. Muller Neglected Neighborhood . . .Santa Monica Daily Press, 4 August 2004, 1, 2004a, 1992, 1946, 1906
" . . .
"The city's original 1906 charter mandated district representatives and the direct election of the mayor. However, a 1946 charter reform set the current system, in place, under which the seven council members are elected at large. A city-commissioned study in 1992 found that the change was partially designed to exclude a growing black population in the Pico neighborhood from political power. . . ."