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Tackling a wildly varied agenda, the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors met on Tuesday, Aug. 4, passed measures grappling with such issues as courthouse safety, food for the needy, legal action to defend DACA and

Prop 15 support

Supervisors voted 4-1  to back Proposition 15, a statewide ballot measure that would partially repeal longstanding protections under Proposition 13 by taxing most commercial and industrial properties based on current market values.

Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas recommended that the board support the ballot measure, which Chief Executive Officer Sachi Hamai estimated would increase county property tax revenue by nearly $400 million annually, even after factoring in the costs to implement operational changes and fight appeals. That’s a 5% bump in local revenues, Ridley-Thomas said.

“Considering the profound impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the county’s fiscal outlook, it is important to pursue additional revenues that could be used to counter the potential disinvestment in education and local services, particularly within vulnerable and disadvantaged communities,” Ridley-Thomas stated in the motion.

Supervisor Kathryn Barger cast the dissenting vote.“This statewide effort would be the largest tax increase in California history at a time when businesses are grappling with major financial repercussions as a result of COVID-19,” she said.

Fighting COVID in courthouses

Supervisors decided unanimously to impose stronger health and safety measures in county courthouses, where public defenders have objected to what they contend are unsafe conditions.

Supervisors Thomas and Sheila Kuehl proposed that the county’s chief executive officer collaborate with the Public Defender’s Office, Sheriff Alex Villanueva and other county agencies, including health departments, to develop recommendations on a pre-screening process for entering courthouses — including temperature checks and exposure questions — along with other safety measures.

The motion also suggested hourly patrols to ensure compliance with masking and social distancing protocols and public health inspections of lockup spaces in all of the county’s courthouses.

Defending DACA

Supervisors voted to challenge any federal government action to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas recommended that the county fight back against any move to eliminate DACA, which is currently under review by the Department of Homeland Security.

“Now, more than ever, we must be resolved to keep fighting on behalf of our immigrant communities, especially in the face of an administration that has continually attacked a community that is so vital to every facet of our country,” Ridley-Thomas said in a statement.

The Trump administration had sought to end DACA, an Obama-era program, but was ultimately blocked, at least temporarily, by the U.S. Supreme Court, which issued a 5-4 opinion in June.

Space for elections support

Supervisors  gave the go-ahead to expand vote-by-mail operations in the county, part of a larger effort to prepare for Nov. 3 general election.

For the first time ever, the county is sending mail-in ballots this year to all registered voters — adhering to state and county directives to get ballots to as many voters as possible in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. All told, in the county there are about 5.5 million voters.

In preparation, the Board on Tuesday approved a motion from Supervisor Hilda Solis to use the Pomona Fairplex for additional space for its election operations and for storage of materials for the mail-ballot operation. The site’s main Exposition Halls include 75,000 square feet to help accomplish that mission.

Supervisors also backed a plan to help staff the election effort by draw workers from the county’s Disaster Service Worker Program and deploying county employees at polling places.

Making roads safer

Supervisors approved a plan to reduce traffic-related injuries and deaths in unincorporated areas of the county, setting a goal of zero fatalities by 2035.

Supervisors Hilda Solis and Janice Hahn co-authored the motion to enhance street safety, saying traffic deaths had jumped by nearly 28% countywide from 2013-2017, with 3,400 lives lost. More than 10% of those people were killed on roadways in unincorporated communities.

In 2017, the board committed to a “Vision Zero” program, focusing on system fixes and managing vehicle speeds as the most effective way to reduce deaths. A detailed action plan was drafted last year and then circulated for public comment prior to Tuesday’s vote.

The action plan — Vision Zero Los Angeles County: A Plan for Safer Roadways — identifies various safety improvements to be implemented over the next five years, including installing high-visibility crosswalks and pedestrian head-start signals. Pilot programs will be launched at three or more high-collision corridors.

$4.5 million settlement

Supervisors approved a $4.5 million settlement payout to a convicted child molester who was held in a state hospital for 17 years awaiting trial on whether he could be committed as a sexually violent predator.

George Vasquez pleaded no contest in 1995 to four counts of lewd or lascivious acts on a child under 14 and was sentenced to 12 years in state prison. The case involved boys ages 6 to 8 years old from his South Los Angeles neighborhood.

After Vasquez had served his time, in September 2000, the District Attorney’s Office filed a petition seeking to have Vasquez committed to a state hospital as a sexually violent predator. A series of five deputy public defenders represented Vasquez, who was held at Coalinga State Hospital while awaiting trial on the prosecution’s petition, as the case dragged on without a trial for 16 years.

On Jan. 8, 2018, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James Bianco ruled that Vasquez must be freed, citing “oppressive” delays and a “systematic breakdown of the public defender system.”

Supervisors also:

• Authorized the director of Public Works to take all actions necessary to issue temporary permits to allow hair salons, barbershops and personal care services to operate outdoors;
• Voted to oppose a Trump Administration memorandum creating a policy that supervisors said could exclude undocumented immigrants from the 2020 Census’
• Shifted $5.3 million from the Sheriff’s Department budget to restore the county’s Mental Evaluation Teams, boosting efforts to respond to calls for help at scenes including people facing mental challenges; and
• Directed the drafting of a Heat Emergency Response Plan for assessing and helping people cope with extreme summer heat.

City News Service contributed to this article.