Supervisors Oppose Board Expansion

The County Board of Supervisors went on record Tuesday opposing an effort by State Sen. Richard Polanco (D-Los Angeles) to ask state voters to pass a constitutional amendment to expand the board from five to nine members.

A majority of the supervisors voted to oppose the Polanco measure, which has passed the state Senate, as an affront to local self-determination. Polanco got behind the effort more than a year ago “with the hope of jump-starting the county’s interest” in board expansion, his spokesman said.

The board also voted to postpone its own consideration of county governance issues--including board expansion and creation of a powerful county executive that had been proposed by Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky. It agreed to consider creating a county charter revision commission next month.

Board expansion advocates have complained that supervisorial districts are too large, with each containing nearly 2 million people.

But expansion plans have repeatedly fallen victim to voter disinterest or hostility. Polanco’s effort, supported by some groups seeking to enhance the chances electing minorities, contains sweeteners for voters, including term limits and cost-limitation requirements.