Senators Hertzberg and Allen Hold Hearing in Los Angeles to Examine Representative Democracy for Large Counties

Having re-vamped California’s voting systems with a measure to set up countywide voting centers and eliminate neighborhood precinct-level voting, California State Senators Robert Hertzberg and Ben Allen are moving on to lead a discussion of how best to give country residents a bigger say in how they are governed.  Here’s what they have in mind, according to a media advisory sent today from Senator Hertzberg's office to Etopia News:

Sens. Hertzberg and Allen Hold Hearing in Los Angeles to Examine Representative Democracy for Large Counties

California’s 58 counties range in size from tiny Alpine County, with less than 2,000 residents, to giant Los Angeles County, with more than 10 million residents. Every county except San Francisco, which is uniquely both a city and county, has the same governing model: an elected five-member board with a non-elected county executive.  The Senate Committee on Elections and Constitutional Amendments, chaired by Senator Ben Allen, D-Santa Monica, and the Senate Committee on Governance and Finance, chaired by Senator Robert Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, will hold a joint informational hearing to explore whether Californians in large counties would be better served by larger governing boards and an elected county executive.

What:             The Senate Committee on Elections and Constitutional Amendments, chaired by Senator Ben Allen and the Senate Committee on Governance and Finance, chaired by Senator Robert Hertzberg, will conduct an informational hearing titled “Representative Democracy for a Growing California: Should Counties Have Elected Executives and Larger Boards?”

When:             Thursday, October 27, 2016 at 10:00 a.m.

Where:           Metropolitan Water District Main Headquarters
700 North Alameda Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012

Who:               Zev Yaroslavsky, Former Member, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors 

Richard Polanco, Former Majority Leader, California State Senate

David Janssen, Former Chief Executive Officer, Los Angeles County

Deanna Kitamura, Project Director, Voting Rights Project, Asian Americans

Advancing Justice - Los Angeles

Matthew Barragan, Staff Attorney, Mexican American Legal Defense and

Educational Fund

Rosalind Gold, Senior Director of Policy, Research and Advocacy, National

Association of Latino Elected Officials Educational Fund

Watch:            The hearing will be livestreamed at: ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPtVblNDmFc

For more information, visit Senator Hertzberg’s website.