Voters to decide on major overhaul to LA County government structure

LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Los Angeles County voters will have the final say Tuesday on a package of charter amendments that would overhaul county governance structure, in part by expanding the size of the Board of Supervisors and making the county CEO an elected position.

If approved by voters, Measure G would expand the Board of Supervisors from five to nine members following the 2030 Census and the county CEO would become an elected position by 2028. The measure would also create the positions of County Legislative Analyst and Director of Budget and Management.

The proposal also includes the establishment of an Ethics Commission and a Compliance Officer by 2026. The Board of Supervisors has already begun the process of creating an Ethics Commission, with Supervisor Kathryn Barger noting that the move doesn't require voter approval. But if it is approved on the ballot, its existence would be codified in the charter, along with the establishment of a compliance officer, protecting it from being disbanded in future absent another public vote.

The measure also has a series of other provision, including the creation of a commission that would review the county charter every 10 years; require the all county departments to present their annual budgets during public meetings; require all Board of Supervisors agenda items to be posted at least 120 hours prior to a regular meting; authorize suspension of an elected official charged with a felony relating to a violation of officials duties; create a task force to oversee the implementations of the changes; and require that the changes be made with no additional cost to taxpayers.

The charter changes were championed by Supervisors Lindsey Horvath and Janice Hahn, and supported by Supervisor Hilda Solis.

Los Angeles County Board of Supervisor Janice Hahn during a public board meeting at Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Horvath and Hahn have argued on the need to bring about the changes -- saying the current County Charter was adopted in 1912, when the population was about 500,000. But the county now has 10 million residents and encompasses 88 incorporated cities within its border.

"Measure G is bringing long overdue countywide reform to Los Angeles County," Horvath told City News Service recently. "It is reforming a county governance structure, which hasn't changed since 1912 when there were more cows than people in Los Angeles.

"... We are making sure that we have a government that is responsive to 21st Century needs," she added.

Currently, 10 million people in the county are represented by five people on the board. Horvath described that as "absurd," saying residents deserve to have their government brought closer to them.

"Each of these districts is represented by a supervisor who is not only their social safety net, but also functions as their mayor for a lot of the municipal services," Horvath told CNS.

But there has been dissension on the board about the proposals. Supervisors Holly Mitchell and Kathryn Barger both voted against placing the package on the ballot. They suggested the changes were being rushed forward, and they questioned if nine would be the proper number of members on an expanded board.

They also opposed the concept of an elected CEO, saying in a ballot argument against the measure that the person would lack accountability, serving with no term limits while endowed with the power to control the county's massive budget and weakening the Board of Supervisors' authority over the budget and the ability to hold department heads accountable.

"The people of L.A. County deserve results from their elected leaders, not more elected positions without accountability and increased spending that takes from an already strained county budget working to address the homeless and mental health crisis," according to the ballot argument signed by Mitchell and Barger, along with the leaders of the L.A. County Firefighters union and the Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs.

Opponents have also questioned the notion that the changes could be implemented without any new costs to taxpayers, given its creation of new elected positions and county offices.