Veteran Democratic legislator Bob Hertzberg plans to run for the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, upending the race to characterize the San Fernando Valley on the highly effective panel.
Hertzberg, who serves as the bulk chief within the state Senate and was beforehand the speaker of the state Meeting, instructed The Instances he was motivated to run by new district strains that place a lot of the Valley inside a single district.
“The San Fernando Valley in my judgment is simply too huge to not have a voice on the Board of Supervisors,” Hertzberg stated, noting that if it have been a metropolis, it could be the seventh largest within the nation. “I’m the one elected chief who can be on this race as of now who has an 818 space code. We within the Valley know what meaning.”
Though the county board sometimes doesn’t obtain the identical consideration because the Los Angeles Metropolis Council or the mayor’s workplace, it’s among the many strongest native authorities our bodies within the nation, with an annual funds of greater than $39 billion. The 5 county supervisors characterize 10 million folks, greater than all however 10 states.
Hertzberg, 67, is operating to switch retiring Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, who represents the third District. Others who’ve entered the competition embody state Sen. Henry Stern, Assemblyman Richard Bloom and West Hollywood Councilwoman Lindsey Horvath.
Hertzberg stated he’s operating as a result of he believes he has a observe document of offering outcomes for the area’s residents, pointing to the funding he secured for the Orange Line, the performing arts middle at Cal State Northridge and different initiatives.
“I’ve delivered,” Hertzberg stated.
He additionally stated he’s proven he has a long-term imaginative and prescient and a collaborative nature that may assist the county sort out among the area’s most intractable issues, together with homelessness and housing. He hopes to place a $25-billion bond measure on the November poll that would offer down fee loans to folks buying brand-new houses.
He stated he would additionally deal with longer-term issues comparable to groundwater replenishment and excessive warmth.
“Lots of people say the satan’s within the particulars. My view of the world is God is within the particulars,” he stated. “Persons are hopping mad, and the underside line is we’ve to ship for people.”
The contours of the third District dramatically modified in a last-minute proposal throughout the redrawing of district strains after final yr’s census. Beneath the brand new plan, the district misplaced many Los Angeles cultural landmarks however picked up conservative communities within the northern Valley, together with Chatsworth and Porter Ranch. These additions injected a brand new ingredient into the district, which nonetheless incorporates liberal bastions comparable to Santa Monica and West Hollywood.
Kuehl was angered by the modifications, saying in emails to constituents that they have been politically motivated and meant to make the district extra centrist and “a a lot simpler district for a person who’s been salivating to run for the workplace however discovered himself in want of an citizens extra intently tailor-made to his politics.”
Kuehl didn’t identify the politician.
Hertzberg, an legal professional and a reasonable, is well-connected due to the relationships he has fashioned over a long time in political life.
He began in 1974 as a driver for Mervyn Dymally, then a state senator operating for lieutenant governor. He solid relationships with Latino leaders on town’s Eastside, together with Gloria Molina, Richard Alatorre and Antonio Villaraigosa. These relationships helped him win an Meeting seat in 1996. He served in that physique for six years and later seven years within the state Senate. He additionally performed behind-the-scenes roles when he was not in workplace, together with serving as an advisor to then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican.
In asserting his run, Hertzberg instructed The Instances he had collected the endorsement of greater than 100 folks, together with politicians, neighborhood leaders and labor unions. Amongst his backers are former Gov. Grey Davis, state Treasurer Fiona Ma, Rep. Tony Cardenas and former Meeting Audio system Fabian Núñez and John Perez. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, a Republican, has additionally endorsed him.
Nonetheless, he has not at all times been profitable — he misplaced his 2005 bid for mayor.
And Hertzberg, whose nickname in Sacramento was “Huggy Bear” due to his propensity for giving embraces, was among the many state lawmakers who acquired caught up within the #MeToo scandals that rocked the statehouse in recent times.
A 2018 investigation discovered that though he made some folks uncomfortable along with his hugs, his habits wasn’t sexually motivated. He was reprimanded and instructed to cease initiating hugs.
Instances workers author Jaclyn Cosgrove contributed to this report.
