County IN BRIEF : COUNTYWIDE : Measure OKd to Recruit Women

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a measure designed to recruit more women to county boards and commissions. The motion--introduced by Gloria Molina, who co-authored a similar motion while on the City Council--does not set quotas but encourages the county to widen its outreach efforts. Only conservative Supervisor Mike Antonovich voted against the motion, saying, “I don’t believe in quotas or a proposal that aims at some sort of quotas. I think people should not be judged as a matter of their sex.” Representatives of four womens’ organizations, including the Fund for the Feminist Majority, testified last week in support of the motion, noting that women hold less than a third of the seats on county boards and commissions. Molina said most of the women are relegated to such traditional causes as libraries, performing arts, and children’s issues. She said they are generally excluded from commissions dealing with such issues as civil service and aviation.