It’s been a long time in coming, but for the first time since the first Bush administration there will be a new Los Angeles County supervisor from the First District.
Term limits are forcing longtime Supervisor Gloria Molina to say goodbye to the post that covers a large portion of the San Gabriel Valley and East Los Angeles County. Vying for the seat is one very-known name and two others trying to win the ticket to the Board of Supervisors, according to a published report.
With the election taking place on June 3, Hilda Solis, a former member of Congress and Labor Secretary in the Obama administration, is considered by many to easily be the front runner. As she has name recognition and reportedly more than $625,000 at her disposal she might be difficult to beat, according to that report.
However, El Monte Council Member Juventino “J” Gomez and law enforcement officer April Saucedo Hood are trying very hard to get votes on election day.
In addition to serving the city of El Monte for 10 years, Gomez has worked for Los Angeles County for almost 40 years, in the human resources area and also has a senior staff member for Supervisor Mike Antonovich, according to that report.
Hood said she grew up in Bell Gardens and now lives in Pico Rivera. She is the parent of two children – one is 1 and one is 14 – and works as a patrol officer in Long Beach Unified School District, according to that report.
And Solis, for her part, is more than likely able to bring federal money to Los Angeles County because of her past work, according to that report.
With vote-by-mail ballots being sent out on May 5, all three candidates are doing what they can now to reach out to voters, according to that report.
Solis has said that one of the things she would like to do as supervisor is reform the Department of Children and Family Services, according to that report.
While Solis has said the department needs to hire more case workers to reduce the existing caseload, Gomez has said the county should “also look to reforms among the department’s supervisors,” according to that report.
And Hood said the department needs to improve “training for social workers,” according to that report.
The one area Gomez and Hood have said they would like to concentrate on is public safety.
Hood has said the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is not currently well run and that deputies often do not treat people well, according to that report.
Gomez is “calling for an annual or biannual audit of the Sheriff’s Department,” according to that report.
(Shel Segal can be reached at ssegal@beaconmedianews.com. He can be followed via Twitter @segallanded.)
-Story by Shel Segal
