The idea has been trotted out for nearly 100 years.
And it has been rejected by voters eight times.
But on Tuesday, Feb. 28, the notion of expanding the number of members on the powerful, five-person Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors will be back on the docket during the board’s regular meeting.
A motion from Fourth District Supervisor and Chair of the Board Janice Hahn, co-authored by First District Supervisor Hilda Solis, asks the Office of the County Counsel to research the history of past attempts and recommend how an expansion of the board could increase resident representation.
“Board expansion is something that I have supported for a long time and I am hopeful that the time is right to finally get it done,” Hahn said on Monday in an emailed response.
The idea of expanding the board from five members to nine, 11 or 13 has come up numerous times since 1926. Most recently, in 2021, the Los Angeles County Redistricting Commission said it received numerous calls from residents about expansion, and suggested it be explored.
In 1926, the year of the first expansion attempt, the county had a little more than 1 million residents. Today, the county has more than 10 million. Each supervisor represents 2 million people, more than most members of the U.S. Congress.
Many say this is too large to ensure residents adequate access to government and services. “With 10 million residents but only five county supervisors, these calls are compelling,” the motion concludes.
The redistricting commission redrew lines for each supervisorial district but was prohibited from adding districts. One of its principals was to keep “communities of interest” together in the same district. These are grouped by ethnicity, race, geography or socio-economic levels.
But with the most populous county in the nation, that was not always possible. For example, changes were made to District 3, formerly represented by Sheila Kuehl who retired and now represented by the newest…
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