Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record, our newsletter on the travails of L.A. city — and occasionally county! — government. It’s Times staffer Rebecca Ellis, with help from my colleague David Zahniser, lining up the past week’s news.
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How many politicians should represent the largest county in America?
Depending on who you ask, the question has been studied to death — or barely studied at all.
L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath says we already know enough. This November, she’s looking to put a measure on the ballot asking voters to overhaul the county government, most notably by expanding the five-person board to nine.
“It is a number that has been studied for decades. It’s a number that is familiar to L.A. County residents,“ Horvath said in an interview. “It’s been tested. It’s measured. It’s not radical.”
Not everyone’s on board.
“From who? Where are the studies?” said Supervisor Holly Mitchell. “That’s an easy thing to roll off the tongue to say.”
This week, as the expansion plan gained speed, the county’s Hall of Administration became the site of some seldom-seen sparring.
Usually, the weekly board meetings are dominated by pleasantries and unanimous votes. Not this time.
Kathryn Barger panned the proposal to overhaul the government structure as “anything but transparent” — fighting words in county government parlance. Mitchell agreed.
The proposal moved forward 3-0, with Barger and Mitchell abstaining. The supervisors will have to vote on the plan, which also includes creating a new ethics commission and an elected chief executive position, two more times before it can appear on the November ballot.
One overarching question from the two…