Your guide to Measure A, which would allow L.A. County supervisors to oust sheriff and other elected officials from office without a vote by the county’s voters.
If Los Angeles County voters in November approved Measure A, it would allow supervisors to remove elected officials from office immediately and without a vote.
Measure A would also allow for a recall election if the county is to experience a severe fiscal emergency.
Supporters of Measure A argue that the county should not have to rely so heavily on aldermen to solve problems, like an increase in the cost of living. But Measure A does not call for any specific spending reductions to be enacted by supervisors.
“Measure A is not a proposal for a budget,” said Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, who proposed the measure Tuesday. “It’s not a budget, it’s a measure.”
While the measure’s backers concede that it would not reduce the county’s general fund deficit—the county’s bottom line—they argue that it would prevent the county from getting further into debt by spending more on salaries for elected officials and the county manager.
“You’re putting a stop to spending based on what might happen in a recession,” said Supervisor Bill Rosendall, who proposed the measure.
Measure A is the latest ballot measure in the County of Los Angeles. Measure A, for a change, would not take effect immediately.
Proponents of Measure A, the recall petition and the two other measures being considered at this time, say that the county’s elected officials have a difficult role to perform. That’s true. The county’s elected officials have difficult jobs to perform, but they also have a key role in the decision-making process, as well as a large financial stake in the success of the county.
So, it is not surprising that the current system of elected officials—the aldermen—will continue to face major decisions about the budget, the allocation of public dollars and the allocation of public responsibilities to the people who are representing us in the various branches of government.
But we should also look at the role of the elected officials as a whole—which they are, and which they are not. And it is not surprising that the system of county government—voters