The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has a new chairperson.
First District Supervisor Hilda Solis took the gavel from Fifth District Supervisor Kathryn Barger on Tuesday, Dec. 2, to lead the five-member, all-women board that represents 10 million county residents and oversees 117,000 county employees.
Solis, 67, whose district includes East L.A. and the heart of the San Gabriel Valley, marks her third time leading the board, having served as chair in 2016 and 2021. Next year will be her final year serving on the board and will be termed out. In her remarks, she outlined what she and the rest of the board will face in the next 12 months.
“The board will continue to contend with reductions in resources. We have to address a significant hold in our budget,” she said. The drop in revenues comes from HR1 budget bill passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump that will cut into the breadth of social services distributed by LA county to low-income residents.
“With so many cuts to federal services, the county needs to continue to be that safety net,” she said.
It’s no coincidence that Solis focused on fighting the Trump administration’s policies, from social service cuts and raises in Obamacare premiums to widespread immigration raids affecting county residents and their families.
In August, Solis announced she will be running for a seat in Congress after her term on the board ends next year.
Most likely, Solis will run in what will be California’s 38th Congressional District which is being formed out of a statewide redistricting measure approved by voters last month. The new re-drawn district includes: El Monte, Bell, Commerce, Diamond Bar, Montebello, Pico Rivera, West Whittier and Yorba Linda and Anaheim in Orange County.
Solis figures to be a formidable candidate to return to Congress. She is no stranger to the national scene. She served in the U.S. House of Representatives in the early 2000s, representing the San Gabriel Valley, before President Barack Obama chose her to join his Cabinet as secretary of labor in 2009.
Raised in La Puente to immigrant parents, Solis became an early advocate for worker rights, a theme that would continue through her years in public service, from the Rio Hondo Board of Trustees to the California Legislature to Congress.
“Supervisor Solis is a living legend,” said Third District Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, who often see eye-to-eye on immigration and environmental issues. “More importantly, you are a fighter. You are exactly the woman for this moment.”
Fourth District Supervisor Janice Hahn agreed. “You (Solis) are known in your entire career as someone who stands up for our immigrant community,” she said, adding this is especially timely as raids continue to happen in the county and its 88 cities.
The board saluted Barger for her leadership, especially setting up resources for victims of the Eaton and Palisades fires in January. Horvath mentioned it was Barger who co-authored her motion to start a new county Department of Homeless Services and Housing.
Second District Supervisor Holly Mitchell was voted unanimously as the vice chair of the board.
SCNG Staff Writers Linh Tat, Anissa Rivera and Kaitlyn Schallhorn contributed to this article.