Alex Padilla cautious on Board of Supes expansion

Secretary of State Alex Padilla conceded that the five Los Angeles County Board of Supervisor districts are big. But he declined to say whether he still favors plans that would increase the number of districts to boost Latino representation and to possibly help the election of an Asian American.

“A district of 2 million people is a lot,” he said. “Those are big districts.” But when I pressed him about how he felt about the proposal, he wouldn’t say.

Padilla spoke at the Los Angeles Current Affairs Forum, presided over by public affairs consultant Emma Schafer, who also compiles the web site Emma’s Memos. He is a former Los Angeles city councilman and state senator from the San Fernando Valley.

I wondered about Padilla’s feelings on board expansion for a couple of reasons. As the top elected Latino official in the state—and a prospect for future office—his opinions are important. And as a state senator, he introduced legislation that would have given judges the power to expand boards of supervisors if they found minorities were being denied representation. It was part of a bill to strengthen the state voting rights act. Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed the legislation. He did not touch on the board expansion issue. He said the present voting rights act is sufficient.

But the expansion issue remains. There is a Latino on the five person county board, but Hilda Solis’ presence doesn’t disguise the fact that Los Angeles County’s Latinos should be better represented. Same with Asian Americans.

Latinos comprise about half of Los Angeles County’s population but the board has opposed proposals to draw new districts or to add two more districts to give them a better chance on election day. That is why Padilla and other Latino politicians and activists pushed for giving judges the power to expand boards. No doubt board expansion advocates will be back at Padilla for help again.

Mine wasn’t the only question Padilla ducked. Peter Jamison of the Los Angeles Times asked Padilla if he would run against Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti next year. “I am not running for mayor,” Padilla replied, without letting on whether he might run in the future.

But I left in a good mood. Padilla gave a ringing endorsement to my favorite section of the secretary of state’s office, the archives. My wife Nancy and I spent many days in the state archives doing research for my biography of Jesse Unruh. It’s a great place and if you’ve got some spare time in Sacramento, make sure to visit.