It’s official. Former L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva is running for the Board of Supervisors.
To win, though, he’ll have to unseat incumbent Supervisor Janice Hahn, who has represented District 4 since 2016. Hahn’s father, Kenneth Hahn, served as a supervisor for 40 years. Villanueva previously served as sheriff for three years, but lost his reelection bid last year against current Sheriff Robert Luna.
At his campaign launch in Whittier on Wednesday, Villanueva laid out his goals if elected: to tackle public safety, homelessness and what he said was rampant county corruption.
“It’s all about the political class, and they anoint each other and support each other,” he said. “And they’re spending $44 billion of your hard earned taxpayer dollars. And you have no idea where the money is being spent. Well, it’s time to pull the curtain back and see what the Wizard of Oz is doing behind those curtains.”
He said he will establish “a transparency promise” so the public can understand where money is being spent.
Villanueva frequently butted heads with the board of supervisors during his time as sheriff, accusing them of undermining his department.
When asked how he hoped to turn the district around in this election, Villanueva said he doesn’t have to defend his record like Hahn does on things like homelessness and crime.
“The majority is up for reelection. If you’re happy with what’s going on today in LA, where the smash and grab, it’s a life or death struggle just to go to the supermarket, if you’re OK with that, please vote for all the incumbents and continue down that path,” he said.
When Villanueva ran for sheriff, he did so on the Democrat ticket promising to reform the largest sheriff’s department in the nation. But, at the helm, he…
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