By Mary O’KEEFE

Depending on what voters determine in November, Los Angeles County may be facing some major changes.

LA County Supervisors Lindsey Horvath and Janice Hahn proposed a measure that would increase the current five member board to nine members and create a countywide elected executive position … a county mayor.

At present, the board of supervisors represents about 10 million residents – about two million for each supervisor. LA County Charter was adopted by voters in 1912 when Los Angeles County’s population was a little over 500,000. As the County has grown the supervisor position, according to the motion, has not kept up with that growth.

“If the County were a state, it would be ranked as the 11th most populous, just below Michigan and above New Jersey. Economically, Los Angeles County has a larger Gross Domestic Product (GDP) than all but five U.S. states (California, Texas, New York, Florida, and Illinois). Yet our governance structure, established before women had the right to vote, has remained unchanged,” according to the motion.

The motion also states a “countywide official, elected by and answerable to the voters, is best positioned to consider the common interests of the entire County population and to be held accountable for their implementation.”

This type of motion has been presented before; in fact several times from 1962 to 2023. However, not all LA County supervisors are in favor of the motion. Supervisors Kathryn Barger and Holly Mitchell abstained.

“This reform proposal isn’t a panacea. Whether our Board stays at five members or grows to nine or more, our elected body has a responsibility to lead responsibly, effectively and transparently. Bigger government doesn’t necessarily mean better government – but the matter will be in the public’s hands so they can decide that for themselves come November. I will say that, regardless of size, our Board’s decisions repeatedly get stuck in bureaucracy and an unwillingness to make tough decisions,” Barger stated in a released statement. “A prime example is Men’s Central Jail. Despite our Board’s unanimous vote to close it, we’re nowhere closer to shuttering its doors than we were 12 years ago. This is because there is a lack of political will to approve a plan to securely rehabilitate incarcerated individuals who cannot be legally diverted despite several studies that have all concluded that is the path forward. 

“I believe we should concentrate on improving the transparency of our decision making. The votes and directives issued by our board of supervisors are largely personality driven instead of being guided by process, expert input and transparency. I wholeheartedly support creating an Ethics Commission now so we can immediately tackle improving both transparency and Board accountability. I will introduce a motion at our next regular Board meeting to accomplish that. If we’re serious about reforms, let’s enact those now. There’s no need to wait.”

The two ordinances are proposed to be on the Nov. 5, 2024 ballot. The two include “to establish an office of County Executive to be elected by voters countywide.” This would go into effect in 2028. Voters will also be asked if they want to expand the number of supervisor members from five to nine and that would follow the 2030 “decennial census and reapportionment process.”