Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors oversees a vast operation: It incarcerates thousands of inmates; it cares for children whose parents have abused or neglected them; it runs hospitals, clinics, beaches, harbors, parks and a welfare system. So it's no surprise that the board's meetings draw animated commentary. What is surprising is what those commenters want to talk about. At a recent meeting of the board, the first member of the public to comment was Eric Preven, who calls himself "The County Resident from District 3. " He used his allotted time to raise questions about the county's legal bills and to complain that a report about those bills had been delayed.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors oversees a vast operation: It incarcerates thousands of inmates; it cares for children whose parents have abused or neglected them; it runs hospitals, clinics, beaches, harbors, parks and a welfare system. So it's no surprise that the board's meetings draw animated commentary. What is surprising is what those commenters want to talk about. At a recent meeting of the board, the first member of the public to comment was Eric Preven, who calls himself "The County Resident from District 3. " He used his allotted time to raise questions about the county's legal bills and to complain that a report about those bills had been delayed.

Susan Nissman recalls a few, fleeting moments of doubt when she wondered whether she was doing the right thing by taking a job as a field deputy to Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky. After years as an outspoken community activist working to prevent development in Topanga Canyon, would she be able to adapt to life as a behind-the-scenes aide to the newly elected Yaroslavsky? "I got to this point where I asked myself, 'Why am I going into politics in 1994, of all times?' " said Nissman, 45.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky shot a torpedo at NBCUniversal's $3-billion "Evolution Plan," saying he opposes the company's proposal to build housing on part of its famous back lot in Universal City. The supervisor asked Universal Studios President Ron Meyer in a letter to abandon plans to develop nearly 3,000 condominiums and apartments at the east end of the studio's property. Yaroslavsky's district includes Universal City. The addition of such housing would have "considerable downside to Universal and to our local economy," Yaroslavsky said in the letter, dated Tuesday.

Re "Election of County Executive Proposed," March 1: Congratulations and support for Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky's proposal to elect a county executive. His reasons are speed and accountability of decision-making. Earlier this year, Steve Lopez, in his column, called the supervisors "imperial and untouchable" in relation to their having large amounts of discretionary funds to use unchecked by any other official person or body. Separating the legislative and executive powers in county governance is a necessary step in this direction.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger held a meeting at his Santa Monica office Tuesday to ask the leadership of the University of California to begin talks with L.A. County to take over the shuttered Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital. "These discussions should begin with the county outlining their proposals for addressing governance, financing, seismic safety and medical education -- issues that must be addressed to reopen the hospital," Schwarzenegger said in a statement after the meeting.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a five-year lease Tuesday for two Super Scooper Aircraft despite doubts about the plane's effectiveness in the windy conditions in which it was supposed to perform best in fighting fires. The planes, which the county has leased on an experimental basis from the government of Quebec for the past two years, should be in Los Angeles by October--when strong Santa Ana winds and dry brush have frequently led to devastating wildfires.

The campaign to defeat an initiative expanding the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday's ballot has apologized for issuing a flier erroneously implying that Gov. Gray Davis opposes the measure. The mailer, sent to 500,000 county voters late last week and early this week, features a photo of Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who opposes Measure A, and Davis, who has taken no position on it. Then the mailer declares: "Gov. Gray Davis and Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky agree. . . .

Regarding "Yaroslavsky, Reed Threatened," July 21: Saying that SEIU Local 660 "has threatened more protests" in an article about threatened violence implies that county employees are doing something wrong when we exercise our First Amendment rights. We are loud, and we are angry about plans to close vital public services. But we have never engaged in violent activity. You mention the arrest of union members and community supporters during protests. The article failed to note, however, that the demonstrations were nonviolent acts of civil disobedience.

Los Angeles County and local municipalities are charging significantly higher fees and taking longer to issue solar panel permits than neighboring areas, according to a recent survey by two Southern California Sierra Club chapters. Solar panel permitting fees in L.A. County average $1,143, more than twice the average permit fee, the study found. In response to the findings and a Department of Public Works review of county inspection costs, county supervisors unanimously approved a proposal by Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky on Tuesday that the county lower solar panel permitting fees to $370.

I can't say for sure whether Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky will run for mayor in 2013. I don't even know with certainty whether he's already made up his mind and is just stringing the rest of us along. What I can tell you without any question, though, is that he's enjoying being asked. Before a well-connected group at the Palm last week, Yaroslavsky managed the neat trick of simultaneously insisting that he's still undecided and laying out the campaign he would wage if he jumped into the race.

In a blistering broadside, Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky on Friday condemned proposals to create a second Latino district for the five-member Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, making it extremely unlikely any such plan could pass and raising the possibility the politicians will fail to adopt new districts. Yaroslavsky, in a post on his website, called the two plans for a second Latino district "a baldfaced gerrymander that is completely unnecessary. " He decried the dramatic shifts of population that would result from new district lines, saying, "The scope of the fallout would be vast and swift, potentially undermining the ability of communities to speak with one voice as advocates for their common interests.

Los Angeles County supervisors voted Tuesday to order an investigation of Vernon's finances amid worries that an effort to dissolve the city might unfairly burden county coffers. The inquiry followed a report in The Times on Sunday that outlined a steady decline in the city's finances since 2005 due to swelling debt, dwindling revenues and increased spending on salaries, benefits and legal fees. Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez (D-Los Angeles) has sponsored legislation that would eliminate Vernon's cityhood and make the area an unincorporated part of Los Angeles County.

At a special hearing Friday to air concerns about Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal to shift responsibilities to the counties, Los Angeles County officials told state lawmakers they wanted to help cut California's deficit but had serious questions about the bottom line. If Brown's plan is enacted, county officials estimate they would assume $1.4 billion in additional program responsibilities beginning this year. They said the county ? which currently operates with a $24.2-billion budget ?

In a contentious 4-1 vote, Los Angeles County supervisors Tuesday ordered county departments to cooperate with an investigation into what they called the "inappropriate disclosure of confidential child welfare information" to the Los Angeles Times regarding the deaths of children who were being monitored by county workers. Tuesday's vote came after supervisors acted in closed session in recent weeks to begin an investigation — without disclosing the action to the public.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich said Tuesday he found a series of stories in The Times on Project 50 to be "very disturbing" and said he feels misled by answers he was given when he raised concerns two years ago about the county program to house Skid Row's most vulnerable homeless residents. His complaints were countered by Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who said he welcomed scrutiny of a program he said has proved highly effective. Antonovich, speaking at the Board of Supervisors meeting, said he was disturbed by a passage in Sunday's story about participants leaving mental health and substance problems untreated.

Supervisor Gloria Molina will face no opposition in her bid for a third term in office, while Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky will face three opponents, according to the county registrar-recorder's office. Molina's began serving on the Board of Supervisors on March 1, 1991, after a federal court mandated that the county's political boundaries be redistricted to allow for more representation of Latinos. She was elected to her first full term in 1994 representing the county's Eastside.

A commissioner who has never attended a meeting of the county Commission on Obscenity and Pornography has been reappointed by Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who said he was "a good member." "I would like to go to a meeting to see what it's really doing," said Michael B. Bennett, whom Yaroslavsky selected for a second term. "If I found it's outlived its usefulness, I would be first to tell [Yaroslavsky], 'I have better things to do with my time.'

Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas urged the U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday to broaden its investigation of the county Probation Department and provide stronger oversight of the troubled agency. Ridley-Thomas' op-ed in the Huffington Post was published amid persistent reports of employee abuse of minor wards and a broken internal affairs unit. "The problems at probation are too great to drop at the feet of a new manager alone," Ridley-Thomas wrote. "The Board of Supervisors has attempted to fix the department over the years through various motions.

Los Angeles County probation officials are investigating organized fights between incarcerated youth in a juvenile probation camp classroom, the second time in recent months that they have acknowledged such bouts. The new incidents, which came to light when probation authorities discovered three fight videos posted to the Internet, raise concerns about lack of supervision in a department already under federal scrutiny. Many questions remain about how the youths were able to record the fights, whether any adult was present at the time and how juveniles in a locked facility were able to access the Internet to post them.