Accountable to no one -- yet

The race to succeed Yvonne Burke on the county Board of Supervisors already promises to be one of the more significant Southern California political contests of 2008. That is partly a function of scarcity -- it's extraordinarily rare for seats on the board to come up for grabs -- but it's also one of power and the changing rules of local politics.

Over the years, the supervisors have developed their own signature brand of political influence, fashioning rules and traditions that have served them well. They are, in one sense, obscure figures. Don Knabe, for instance, who represents the county's 4th (and southernmost) District, could walk into most restaurants in Los Angeles and not risk being noticed. Sometimes the supervisors resent their low profile -- they even went so far as to create the office of "Mayor of Los Angeles County," a position that rotates among the five supervisors and manages to be meaningless, pretentious and slightly pathetic all at the same time.

But while anonymity can be disappointing, it also helps the supervisors avoid accountability, and that's just fine by them.

At the same time, the supervisors have anointed themselves unchecked overseers of their respective districts, an authority they grant each other by their tradition of deferring to one another on district matters, which cover such varied and vital topics as healthcare, welfare and social services, many targeted toward the county's poorest residents. The results are efficiency -- Zev Yaroslavsky rarely has to worry about another supervisor challenging his view of what's best for West Los Angeles -- but also neglect: the collapse of medical care at King-Drew Medical Center (later known as King-Harbor Hospital) was largely the result of Burke's determination to protect an African American staff despite its manifest inability and the deepening consequences for a largely Latino patient population.

The supervisors could change that if they wanted to. Indeed, in the case of King-Drew, the rest of the board eventually did step up and wrest exclusive control of the issue from Burke. But for the most part, the supervisors enjoy their individual power and appreciate the benefits of vague accountability. It gives them much authority and little responsibility. "Deference is a choice," said Rafe Sonenshein, a historian and expert on L.A. government and politics. "It's not required."