LOS ANGELES COUNTY : Board Votes to Put Expansion on Ballot

After months of debate, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to let the voters decide whether to expand the board.

On a 3-2 vote, with Supervisors Deane Dana and Mike Antonovich dissenting, the board approved including two expansion plans on the November ballot. They would increase the number of supervisorial districts from five to either seven or nine members.

The proposals still must be reviewed by the U.S. Department of Justice before they can be placed on the ballot. Latino voting rights advocates prefer the nine-district plan, which they say would give the county’s Latino population majority voting power in two districts.

Dana recommended that the board wait until it has received the federal analysis before deciding whether to put the proposals on the ballot. A delay until mid-June, he said, would also allow new U.S. census data to be reviewed.

Antonovich said any expansion would merely cost the county more money and cause more confusion. He particularly objected to the way the proposals further divide the San Gabriel and San Fernando valleys.