Councilman Mitchell Englander to run for Los Angeles County supervisor

Los Angeles City Councilman Mitchell Englander said Tuesday he will run for an open seat on the county Board of Supervisors next year.

“I look at this ultimately as a terrific opportunity to continue what I do [on the City Council] and do more for more people,” Englander said during a telephone interview with The Times.

Englander’s decision, which he said he will announce electronically Wednesday morning, ends weeks of speculation about his plans and adds his name to a growing list of candidates hoping to succeed 5th District Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich. Antonovich must step down after 36 years on the board due to term limits.

A strong fundraiser who is well-known in his corner of the sprawling district, Englander could be a formidable candidate.

The 44-year-old, who lives in the northwest San Fernando Valley suburb of Granada Hills, was reelected in March to a second four-year term on the City Council. He is the only Republican on the 15-member council.

Although he had no opponent in the March municipal election, the city firefighters union and a billboard company spent money independently in support of his campaign.

A reserve LAPD officer, Englander has chaired the city’s Public Safety Committee and received the backing of the Los Angeles Police Protective League in the past.

Competition for the 5th District seat is expected to be intense.

Seven other hopefuls already have filed fundraising notices — the first formal step to becoming a candidate.

They include state Sen. Robert Huff (R-Diamond Bar), who has moved into the district; Antonovich’s top deputy, Kathryn Barger; county prosecutor Elan Carr and Glendale City Councilman Ara Najarian. All are Republicans, running for an officially nonpartisan seat in a largely suburban district that tilts toward the GOP.

Billy Malone, a member of the Altadena Town Council; Palmdale businessman Raj Pal Kahlon, a Democrat who ran against Antonovich four years ago, and South Pasadena engineer/businessman Alan S. Reynolds, who ran in the primary for state lieutenant governor last year, also have filed fundraising paperwork. Malone and Reynolds are not registered with a political party.

The 5th District is the least densely populated and by far the largest geographically of the county’s five supervisorial districts. Its 2,800 square miles run from LaVerne and San Dimas on the east, through much of the San Gabriel Valley and foothill communities and parts of the San Fernando Valley and into the High Desert communities in the Antelope Valley.

jean.merl@latimes.com

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