California Amendment would give counties more supervisors

A proposed state constitutional amendment with the stated aim of making government more responsive and ethnically diverse would add two members to the Riverside and San Bernardino county boards of supervisors. 

The amendment offered by state Sen. Tony Mendoza, D-Artesia, is scheduled be heard by a Senate committee Aug. 17. It would require counties with 2 million or more residents -- Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Los Angeles -- to have at least seven people on their supervisorial boards.

Riverside and San Bernardino each have five supervisors. If the amendment passes both houses of the Legislature by a 2/3 vote, it would go on the ballot for voters’ approval.

In a staff report on the amendment, Mendoza’s office wrote that expanding the boards of supervisors “will provide the opportunity for these bodies to be more responsive and reflective of the needs of the people they represent and serve.”

The amendment would add supervisors in counties with sizeable Latino populations. Roughly half of the Inland population is Latino, according to recently released census numbers.

Despite that, no Latinos serve on the Riverside County Board of Supervisors. San Bernardino County has one Latino supervisor, Josie Gonzales.

For Luz Gallegos, community programs director at TODEC Legal Center, a grassroots organization serving Inland Empire migrant communities, the measures can help boost Latino representation, but in order for the community to reap the benefits, simply electing a Latino politician wouldn’t be enough.

It's about “making sure they have their heart and the community commitment,” she said.

Electing Latinos and other people of color is important, Gallegos said, because it will inspire youth to run for elected office.

“As a youth, I remember (Los Angeles City Councilman) Gil Cedillo,” she said. “He was out there marching with us and he was part of the unions and now he's in positions where we have youth saying, ‘If he can do it, I can do it.’”

“NOT HOMOGENOUS”

Riverside County Supervisor Marion Ashley said he didn’t think the amendment would make much of a difference when it comes to electing a Latino supervisor.

“Latinos are not a homogenous group,” Ashley said. “They look at the issues and if they see a candidate that’s backing the issues they like … they’ll vote for (that candidate).”

Ashley, who is not seeking re-election when his term ends in 2018, said it’s very likely a Latino will take his place. Ashley’s chief of staff, Jaime Hurtado, already is running to succeed his boss.

San Bernardino County supervisors oppose the amendment. In a letter to the state Senate, Supervisor James Ramos wrote that the amendment would “erode the ability of San Bernardino County voters to determine their form of government.”

“While we appreciate your goal to increase diversity among members of county boards of supervisors to better reflect the changes in the state’s demographics, we feel the composition of our Board achieves that goal, and no legislation is needed,” said Ramos, former chairman of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians. His county also has two female supervisors.

Via: http://www.pe.com/articles/supervisors-775582-amendment-san.html

New study says a third of Californians in poverty

Nearly a third of California’s households “struggle each month to meet basic needs,” largely because of the state’s high cost of living, a new study by United Ways of California concludes.

The study relies on what the organization calls a “real cost measure” that goes well beyond the Census Bureau’s official poverty measure, which dates back to the early 1960s and pegs California’s rate at just half of what the United Ways study found.

The organization’s methodology is, however, similar in thrust to an alternative poverty measure that includes all forms of income and is adjusted for the cost of living. By that measure, nearly a quarter of California’s 39 million residents are living in poverty.

The United Ways study is centered on a household budget “composed of costs all families much address, such as food, housing, transportation, child care, out-of-pocket health expenses and taxes.”

While overall, by that method, 31 percent of California’s families “lack income adequate to meet their basic needs,” the rates vary widely by ethnic group and locale.

Over half of Latino families fall under the United Ways poverty measure, as well as 40 percent of black families. White families (20 percent) and Asian-American households 28 percent) are better off.

Geographically, poverty rates range from as high as 80 percent in inner city Los Angeles to as low as 9 percent in suburban Contra Costa County.

The study identified housing costs as the major factor in poverty, with struggling families spending over half of their incomes for shelter, with rents of two-bedroom housing units ranging from $584 a month in Modoc County to $1,905 in Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo counties.

Via: http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article27256111.html