Today, Senate Constitutional Amendment 12 (SCA 12), authored by Senator Tony Mendoza (D-Artesia) and Senator Scott Wilk (R-Antelope Valley), was passed by the Senate Committee on Governance and Finance in a 5-1 vote.
“L.A. County is larger than 42 states, yet at the local level, we're governed by just five County Supervisors. Five people who determine our fate on everything from transportation funding, to social services,” said Senator Scott Wilk (R-Antelope Valley), principal coauthor of the measure. “And they always prioritize downtown L.A., where special interests and wealthy residents flex their power to move to the front of the line.”
SCA 12 will next be heard in the Senate Committee on Elections and Constitutional Amendments as it continues its journey to the 2018 statewide ballot. The measure would modify the California State Constitution to update the rules establishing county governments.
“This amendment will bring accountability and representational equity to all the people of L.A. County,” said Mendoza. “It is imperative that we look forward to the future and provide our residents with representation that answers to them, not the other way around. By reducing the massive size of our supervisorial districts we can finally bring the transparency and accountability the people deserve.”
Former Senator Richard Polanco, redistricting expert Alan Clayton, and two members of the L.A. County Grand Jury that recommended a reform of the Board of Supervisors last year testified in support of SCA 12 in committee.
“Residents in more remote areas like the Antelope Valley are forced to catch whatever scraps fall from the tables of wealthy special interests and downtown power brokers,” said Wilk “The makeup of L.A. County’s Board of Supervisors has not changed since 1850; its long been time for an update to that governance structure to bring our residents the kind of localized representation they should expect at the county level.”