Of Supervisors and Sheriffs: Who is Running LA County's Emergency Operations?

Los Angeles County, one of the largest municipal governments in the world, is overseen by a board of five elected supervisors and three countywide elected officials, including the sheriff.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Supervisors voted to remove LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva from his post as head of the County's Emergency Operations Center, and tensions have only risen since. How can we make sense of the ongoing conflict between the L.A. County leaders in this moment of public health crisis? Is this unprecedented? What does history tell us about the division of power at this level of government?

The UCLA Luskin Center for History and Policy is pleased to launch its new podcast "Then & Now," featuring an informative discussion on this question with former Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, an LCHP Senior Fellow.