SUPERVISORS WATCH : Now It’s Up to Voters

Word that the U.S. Department of Justice has no objection to long-overdue expansion of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is welcome news.

Under terms of a recent redistricting settlement, county officials needed federal approval before placing the measure on the November ballot. The Justice Department has acted quickly--and positively.

Now, voter approval is all that’s needed to transform the board from an insulated small club of politicians into a more representative body.

The structure of county government in Los Angeles has remained fundamentally unchanged for more than a century.

Five supervisors could more than adequately attend to the needs of this county’s 3,500 citizens in the 1850s; today the same number of supervisors represent nearly 9 million residents. Add to this the county’s ever-increasing diversity and it is little wonder that the interests of the supervisors themselves have been better served than the interests of their constituents.

Charter Amendment C would expand the board from five to nine supervisors. And another measure on the November ballot, Charter Amendment B, would replace the county’s appointed executive with an elected executive. Public outrage over the lavish spending of the board’s appointed chief administrative officer and over county pension hikes amid declining public services fueled the campaign this year for the charter amendments. And given the year the county has had, the voters may be in a mood for reform as never before.