LA County has never had an Asian American supervisor

In the 111-year history of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, no Asian American has ever been elected.

Now a new plan to expand the board from five to nine seats hopes to change that, reports LAist.

“That is injustice,” said Rep Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park). “For far too long, the [Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander] community has been marginalized.”

Chu along with Rep Ted Lieu (D-Santa Monica) are supporting a plan to add four more seats on the board, thus increasing the possibility that Asian Americans who make up 15% of the county’s population could be elected.

They were joined by Supervisors Lindsey Horvath, Janice Hahn and Hilda Solis who also back the idea.

“We want to make sure that more voices are in our boardroom when we’re deciding how to tackle the biggest changes we face as a county,” said Hahn to CBS LA. “The AAPI community deserves a seat at that table.”

Chu told the LA Daily News Asian Americans make up the majority of the population in 14 LA County suburbs including Monterey Park, Koreatown, Long Beach, Torrance and Santa Clarita.

Supervisor Kathryn Barger has said she will introduce a measure to expedite a proposal and the Daily News says a preliminary vote will be taken Tuesday to put a package of county charter changes on the November ballot.

“By essentially cutting our districts in half, we’re ensuring our communities have better access to elected supervisors who represent them,” Horvath said. “Good government is one with checks and balances.”