Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Seal of the County of Los Angeles

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is the five member governing board of Los Angeles County, California. Members of the board of supervisors are elected by district, the current members as of April 2006 are:

Los Angeles County follows usual California practice in that it did not subdivide into separate counties or increase the number of supervisors as its population soared after 1920. The only county with more than five supervisors is San Francisco (both a city and a county), and no new counties were formed since 1907 in the state. As a result, the concentration of local administrative power in each county supervisor is high; each one represents more than 2 million people. Moreover, because of the equal representation provisions of the Voting Rights Act, the supervisoral districts often make little geographical sense; in particular, Supervisor District 1 was specifically gerrymandered to be a majority-Latino area, while Supervisor District 2 was designed to have a plurality of African Americans.

A local nickname some use for the Board is "the five little kings."[1] Unseating an incumbent supervisor is extraordinarily difficult, due largely to the prohibitive difficulty of mounting a successful challenge in districts of such enormous geographical and population size. Indeed, no new members have been elected to the Board since Don Knabe took office in 1996. Like other elected officials, supervisors enjoy built-in advantages of incumbency. Supervisors routinely waive parking and rental fees for various organizations, provide bus trips and give free tickets to county facilities to constituents, and build projects for the community with the supervisor's name clearly marked. Each supervisor has a budget of $3,000,000 for staff and office expenses, with the remainder going into a "discretionary fund" that can be used for grants to non-profit agencies, without a vote by the other supervisors. "Good-government" advocates have long supported the idea of expanding Board membership to reduce the size of each district, and establishing an elected County Executive as a check and balance on the Board's power, but voters have rejected such proposals every time they have appeared on the ballot. However, Supervisor Molina has supported expansion of the Board (to potentially increase Hispanic representation), and Supervisor Yaroslavsky has supported both Board expansion and the creation of an elected County Executive, much like King County, Washington, who directly supervises county departments.

To curb the powers of the five supervisors, voters passed in March 2002 Measure B by more than 63%, to limit the terms of the supervisors to three consecutive four year terms. If a supervisor fills a vacancy, the unexpired term counts towards the term limit if there are more than two years (half the term) left to serve. The provisions are not retroactive, meaning that Michael Antonovich, currently the longest serving supervisor, could serve until 2016.

Currently, the chair of the Board of Supervisors has the option of calling himself or herself mayor. The title has drawn criticism as it can lead to confusion with the mayor of the city of Los Angeles. However, those who support the use of the title say that the Board of Supervisors acts as "mayors" or chief executives for the millions of people who live in unincorporated areas. Currently, only Antonovich uses the "mayor" title when he is the chair. All other chairs use the title chair, chairman, or chairwoman, depending on their preference.

Members of the Board of Supervisors also sit on the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, although that organization is not a County agency.

Contents

[edit] Board meetings

The Board meets every Tuesday at 9:30 AM in the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration in downtown Los Angeles. Its weekly meetings are televised on local public television (KLCS Channel 58) and transcripts are published online. Most items are approved on a "consent calendar" without discussion. However, because of the huge implications of some Board decisions, the meetings are regularly attended by speakers and protesters on behalf of many causes. The county is sued frequently by various public interest law firms and organizations on behalf of people who disagree with the Board's decisions.

Meetings can last for hours at a time. At the start of a meeting, after an invocation and the Pledge of Allegiance, all items that do not have "holds" placed on them by a supervisor or a member of the general public, or are mandatory public hearings, are approved. Following that, presentations of various dignitaries such as directors of local consulates, awards to County employees and the general public, and a pet for adoption are made. The presentations can take over an hour. Then, items that were not approved are called in numerical order unless a supervisor wishes to take items out of order. Because of this, department heads with controversial items stay for the entire meeting to wait until their item is called, which may not be the order on the agenda. Some items are "special orders", where at a set time the item will be called in order to invite guests to make presentations that they could not otherwise wait for.

During the meeting, adjournments are sprinkled throughout as well, and can include anyone the supervisor finds worthy of note. Public comment is very limited, with an individual being able to comment for a total of three minutes for all items one wishes to address during a meeting, and an additional three minutes every 90 days on any topic within the board's jurisdiction. Individuals must submit comment cards before the start of the meeting and wait until their item is called. On popular topics with multiple speakers, comments may be restricted to as little as one minute each, and the board has the discretion to figuratively muzzle anyone who is addressing the board in a disruptive manner, such as holding multiple unrelated items.

[edit] Former Supervisors

Year 1st District 2nd District 3rd District 4th District 5th District
1899 Orray W. Longden Robert E. Wirsching Edward S. Field Alonzo Edward Davis James Hanley
1901 Orray W. Longden George Alexander Edward S. Field Peter James Wilson James Hanley
1902 Orray W. Longden George Alexander Edward S. Field Peter James Wilson James Hanley/Charles E. Patterson
1903 Orray W. Longden George Alexander A.J. Graham Peter James Wilson Charles E. Patterson
1905 Orray W. Longden/John T. Brady George Alexander A.J. Graham Peter James Wilson Vacant
1907 Charles Dewey Manning George Alexander S. Tuston Eldridge Peter James Wilson Charles E. Patterson
1909 Charles Dewey Manning Henry D. McCabe S. Tuston Eldridge Clarence J. Nellis Richard W. Pridham
1911 Charles Dewey Manning Henry D. McCabe Sidney Allcutt Butler Clarence J. Nellis Richard W. Pridham
1913 Charles Dewey Manning Richard H. Norton Sidney Allcutt Butler William E. Hinshaw Richard W. Pridham
1914 Charles Dewey Manning Richard H. Norton Sidney Allcutt Butler/Frank E. Woodley William E. Hinshaw Richard W. Pridham
1915 John J. Hamilton Richard H. Norton Frank E. Woodley William E. Hinshaw Richard W. Pridham
1917 John J. Hamilton Richard H. Norton/Edward James Delorey Frank E. Woodley William E. Hinshaw/ Reuban F. McClellan Richard W. Pridham /Jonathan S. Dodge
1918 John. J. Hamilton/Prescott F. Cogswell Edward James Delorey/ Jack H. Bean Frank E. Woodley Reuban F. McClellan Jonathan S. Dodge
1920 Prescott F. Cogswell Jack H. Bean Frank E. Woodley Reuban F. McClellan Jonathan S. Dodge
1921 Prescott F. Cogswell J.H. Bean Frank E. Woodley Reuban F. McClellan Jonathan S. Dodge/Henry W. Wright
1922 Prescott F. Cogswell J.H. Bean Frank E. Woodley Reuban F. McClellan Henry W. Wright
1924 Prescott F. Cogswell J. H. Bean Frank E. Woodley Reuban F. McClellan Henry W. Wright
1926 Prescott F. Cogswell/Fred T. Beaty J.H. Bean Frank E. Woodley/ Sidney T. Graves Reuban F. McClellan Henry W. Wright
1928 Fred T. Beaty J. H. Bean/Frank L. Shaw Sidney T. Graves Reuban F. McClellan Henry W. Wright
1930 Hugh A. Thatcher Frank L. Shaw J. Don Mahaffey/Harry M. Baine John R. Quinn Henry W. Wright/Roger W. Jessup
1932 Hugh A. Thatcher Frank L. Shaw/Gordon L. McDonough J. Don Mahaffey/Harry M. Baine John R. Quinn Henry W. Wright/Roger W. Jessup
1934 Hugh A. Thatcher/Herbert C. Legg Gordon L. McDonough Harry M. Baine/John Anson Ford John R. Quinn Roger W. Jessup
1936 Herbert C. Legg Gordon L. McDonough John Anson Ford John R. Quinn/Leland M. Ford Roger W. Jessup
1938 Herbert C. Legg/William A. Smith Gordon L. McDonough John Anson Ford Leland M. Ford/Oscar L. Hauge Roger W. Jessup
1940 William A. Smith Gordon L. McDonough John Anson Ford Oscar L. Hauge Roger W. Jessup
1942 William A. Smith Gordon L. McDonough John Anson Ford Oscar L. Hauge Roger W. Jessup
1944 William A. Smith Gordon L. McDonough John Anson Ford Oscar L. Hauge/Raymond V. Darby Roger W. Jessup
1945 William A. Smith Gordon L. McDonough/Leonard J. Roach John Anson Ford Oscar L. Hauge/Raymond V. Darby Roger W. Jessup
1946 William A. Smith Leonard J. Roach John Anson Ford Raymond V. Darby Roger W. Jessup
1948 William A. Smith Leonard J. Roach John Anson Ford Raymond V. Darby Roger W. Jessup
1950 William A. Smith/Herbert C. Legg Leonard J. Roach John Anson Ford Raymond V. Darby Roger W. Jessup
1952 Herbert C. Legg Leonard J. Roach/Kenneth Hahn John Anson Ford Raymond V. Darby Roger W. Jessup
1953 Herbert C. Legg Leonard J. Roach/Kenneth Hahn John Anson Ford Raymond V. Darby/Burton W. Chace Roger W. Jessup
1954 Herbert C. Legg Kenneth Hahn John Anson Ford Burton W. Chace Roger W. Jessup
1956 Herbert C. Legg Kenneth Hahn John Anson Ford Burton W. Chace Roger W. Jessup/Warren M. Dorn
1958 Herbert C. Legg/Frank G. Bonelli Kenneth Hahn John Anson Ford/Ernest E. Debs Burton W. Chace Warren M. Dorn
1960 Frank G. Bonelli Kenneth Hahn Ernest E. Debs Burton W. Chace Warren M. Dorn
1962 Frank G. Bonelli Kenneth Hahn Ernest E. Debs Burton W. Chace Warren M. Dorn
1964 Frank G. Bonelli Kenneth Hahn Ernest E. Debs Burton W. Chace Warren M. Dorn
1966 Frank G. Bonelli Kenneth Hahn Ernest E. Debs Burton W. Chace Warren M. Dorn
1968 Frank G. Bonelli Kenneth Hahn Ernest E. Debs Burton W. Chace Warren M. Dorn
1970 Frank G. Bonelli Kenneth Hahn Ernest E. Debs Burton W. Chace Warren M. Dorn
1972 Frank G. Bonelli/Peter F. Schabarum Kenneth Hahn Ernest E. Debs Burton W. Chace/James A. Hayes Warren M. Dorn/Baxter Ward
1974 Peter F. Schabarum Kenneth Hahn Ernest E. Debs/Edmund D. Edelman James A. Hayes Baxter Ward
1976 Peter F. Schabarum Kenneth Hahn Edmund D. Edelman James A. Hayes Baxter Ward
1978 Peter F. Schabarum Kenneth Hahn Edmund D. Edelman James A. Hayes Baxter Ward
1979 Peter F. Schabarum Kenneth Hahn Edmund D. Edelman James A. Hayes/Yvonne Brathwaite Burke Baxter Ward
1980 Peter F. Schabarum Kenneth Hahn Edmund D. Edelman Yvonne Brathwaite Burke/Deane Dana Baxter Ward/Michael D. Antonovich
1982 Peter F. Schabarum Kenneth Hahn Edmund D. Edelman Deane Dana Michael D. Antonovich
1984 Peter F. Schabarum Kenneth Hahn Edmund D. Edelman Deane Dana Michael D. Antonovich
1986 Peter F. Schabarum Kenneth Hahn Edmund D. Edelman Deane Dana Michael D. Antonovich
1988 Peter F. Schabarum Kenneth Hahn Edmund D. Edelman Deane Dana Michael D. Antonovich
1990 Peter F. Schabarum Kenneth Hahn Edmund D. Edelman Deane Dana Michael D. Antonovich
1991 Peter F. Schabarum/Gloria Molina Kenneth Hahn Edmund D. Edelman Deane Dana Michael D. Antonovich
1992 Gloria Molina Kenneth Hahn/Yvonne Brathwaite Burke Edmund D. Edelman Deane Dana Michael D. Antonovich
1994 Gloria Molina Yvonne Brathwaite Burke Edmund D. Edelman/Zev Yaroslavsky Deane Dana Michael D. Antonovich
1996 Gloria Molina Yvonne Brathwaite Burke Zev Yaroslavsky Deane Dana/Don Knabe Michael D. Antonovich
1998 Gloria Molina Yvonne Brathwaite Burke Zev Yaroslavsky Don Knabe Michael D. Antonovich
2000 Gloria Molina Yvonne Brathwaite Burke Zev Yaroslavsky Don Knabe Michael D. Antonovich
2002 Gloria Molina Yvonne Brathwaite Burke Zev Yaroslavsky Don Knabe Michael D. Antonovich
2004 Gloria Molina Yvonne Brathwaite Burke Zev Yaroslavsky Don Knabe Michael D. Antonovich

[edit] References

  1. ^ Niki Cervantes, "Five little kings' power at stake in redistricting suit; Proposed changes would clip clout of L.A. supervisors," San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 May 1990, A3.

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../l/o/s/Los_Angeles_County_Board_of_Supervisors_0365.html"