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Calendar Today in S.C.V. History July 17
1834 - Sinforosa, daughter of Narciso and Crisanta, born at Mission San Fernando; mom from Tejon, dad from Piru; believed to be last speaker of Tataviam language (died 1915) [record]
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1834 - Sinforosa, daughter of Narciso and Crisanta, born at Mission San Fernando; mom from Tejon, dad from Piru; believed to be last speaker of Tataviam language (died 1915) [record]
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Following outcry from LGBTQ+ students and families whose local districts enacted “forced outing” policies over the past year, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond today celebrated the signage of AB 1955: Support Academic Futures and Educators for Today’s Youth Act (SAFETY Act) into law by Governor Gavin Newsom.
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1925 - Actor Harry Carey files patent on the original 160-acre Saugus homestead he'd purchased in 1916 (now Tesoro Del Valle) [story]
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3 Comments
Senator Runner,
I appreciate your argument for increasing the number of County Supervisors in each county of our state based on population of over 2 million. Unfortunately, your argument fails to consider a few things.
First and foremost is the ratio of supervisor to constituent. Your press release fails to explain if those 2 million+ residents are solely under the county’s government, or if they are also represented by a city government. Each of the counties to be affected by your legislation have large cities that provide most or many of the services to their residents that each county would provide to it’s “unincorporated” residents.
The City of Los Angeles has a population of nearly 4 million, and provides most services to its citizens that the county would provide if they were in an unincorporated area. That means the true total population to be divvied up by County Supervisors is closer to 6 million. That’s a ratio of 1 Supervisor to 1.2 million residents, much lower than you note.
And that does not take into account all of the other incorporated cities in LA County.
Granted, LACO provides services, funding, and some control even in incorporated areas within the county, but that is not the same as being the sole or primary local government for all 10 million residents.
The other counties you mention also have large cities in them, although probably not at the same ratio of city to county services as LACO.
Second, I agree that 5 supervisors is a ridiculously small number given the power and responsibility that the State Constitution places on county governments. But I don’t think that adding two more supervisors to a large county will make a noticeable difference. To use your own numbers, that means each Supervisor will represent 1.4 million county residents. Does that strike you as effective representation, especially in unincorporated areas where there are no other local government representatives? And by the way, you and your fellow State Senators and Representatives only truly provide representation for your constituents on matters at the State level. Officially anyway.
No, I think that the counties should be parsed for representation at a level much closer to home. I think 500,000 citizens is more than a single human being (even with a large staff) can represent effectively. I also think that folks who don’t have to drive 60 miles to sit in on a weekday meeting with their County Supervisor will feel much more connected to their local government.
So, let’s up the ante here. Why not make the number of supervisors of any county in California start at 5, and then go up by a sufficient number to keep representation to 500,000 (+ or – 50, 000) residents per Supervisor.
Alpine County would only need to add one.
#feelthebern
Sounds like the Runners are being termed out and need another office to run for.