Political scientists and policy wonks, on the other hand, say democracy is about giving the people what they want.<\/p>\n
Mike Bonin, executive director at the Pat Brown Institute of Public Affairs at Cal State Los Angeles, said this proposal would give residents more of a voice over unelected officials who carry out the board\u2019s policy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe public mood can swing pretty quickly,\u201d he said in an interview. Granting appointment and removal power \u201cmakes things less predictable, because of the response to public mood.\u201d<\/p>\n
Under the proposal, supervisors would gain the power to confirm the top administrator\u2019s appointments of an assistant and deputy, as well as the public health officer and the director of the Office of Emergency Services. They would also be able to remove any of those officials, with or without cause, with a four-fifths vote.<\/p>\n
Then there\u2019s the chief public defender<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The proposal would give the Board of Supervisors the same power over the office whose independence from political influence, defense attorneys argue, is essential to the role and baked into the constitution.<\/p>\n Unlike the other officials covered by the proposal, a county\u2019s chief public defender leads an office whose attorneys stand opposite the government in court, routinely taking adversarial \u2014 and sometimes unpopular \u2014 positions on behalf of clients who can\u2019t afford to put up their own defense.<\/p>\n Kate Braner, who previously served as interim public defender, said this proposal would fundamentally change the office\u2019s relationship to the county.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cPublic defenders need to make decisions based on their clients\u2019 interests and the law, not political considerations,\u201d Braner said in an email. \u201cIt could affect who holds the position and how the Public Defender approaches difficult decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n The county Board of Supervisors is a five-person nonpartisan elected body, meaning each candidate for office appears on the ballot without party affiliation. In practice, however, party politics influence the board and its decisions as supervisors set policy and decide how taxpayer dollars are spent. The county\u2019s top administrator, on the other hand, is appointed by the board and responsible for carrying out policy decisions and overseeing day-to-day operations, including the hiring and firing of most department heads.<\/p>\n The board ultimately voted along party lines<\/a> \u2014 three Democrats voting yes, two Republicans voting no \u2014\u00a0to put the question before voters in November.<\/p>\n Mary Ellen Attridge, a former career public defender now in private practice, said she has no problem with granting the Board of Supervisors the power to confirm the public defender\u2019s appointment. It\u2019s the power to remove that official without cause that gives her pause.<\/p>\n \u201cGiven the political nature of the legal system itself, the firing power should have more specificity as to what would constitute a fireable offense,\u201d Attridge said. \u201cIn other words, if there was financial mismanagement, or moral decay, or something along those lines, because what it does without specifying is it gives unchecked political power to the board.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAnd that means that the political whims, or needs sometimes, of whoever is in power would influence who the public defender is.\u201d<\/p>\n Measure A also gives the Board of Supervisors the option to establish the public defender as an officer appointed directly by the board \u2014\u00a0rather than the top administrator. To make that happen, though, supervisors would first have to pass a new law, requiring two majority votes during public meetings.\u00a0<\/p>\n Many public defenders in California are appointed directly by the board \u2014 except for San Francisco, the only county in the state that elects its public defender by popular vote.<\/p>\n A bill vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom late last year aimed to remove the threat of termination without cause for public defenders. It would have required a showing of neglect of duty, malfeasance or misconduct, or other good cause, as well as a three-fifths vote from the Board of Supervisors.<\/p>\n Public defenders have a constitutional mandate to vigorously advocate for their clients and they need independence to do that, said Kate Chatfield, executive director of the California Public Defenders Association.<\/p>\n \u201cPublic defenders need the freedom to take unpopular stances in defense of their clients,\u201d she added, \u201coccasionally drawing the ire of other county agencies, including the sheriff or county District Attorney.\u201d<\/p>\n Measure A is not the only attempt this year to change a local government\u2019s structure. In Chula Vista, a labor union-backed proposal to increase council pay, extend term limits and change contract bargaining rules was abandoned after public backlash<\/a>. The proposal never made it to the ballot for Chula Vista voters.<\/p>\n \t\t\tType of Content<\/p>\n News: Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.<\/p>\n Journalism costs money. Less journalism costs society.<\/p>\n Your support makes independent local reporting possible.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1790700849_696_Cody_Web_CTA.jpg\")
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