Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath made history last year when she became the youngest woman and the first millennial to be elected to the board.

In this week’s “In Focus SoCal,” host Tanya McRae talked to Horvath about how she began her career in public service on the West Hollywood City Council — where she also served as mayor for two terms — and what the biggest challenges have been going from a position in a city with 35,000 residents to one where she represents more than 2 million people in District 3, which runs from Malibu all the way to Pacoima in the San Fernando Valley.

Horvath talked about the wide variety of issues, interests and needs affecting those different communities. But one issue they all share is homelessness. Right after taking her oath, Horvath co-authored a motion declaring a State of Emergency on homelessness in LA County, similar to Mayor Karen Bass’ declaration in the city of LA.

“This declaration will allow us to expedite hiring in all areas that touch homelessness services, but especially mental health,” Horvath said. “We know we need that help. It will allow us to expedite contracts. I now sit on the LAHSA commission, and I heard in my meeting with the representatives and LAHSA, who are doing that work day in day out, that contracts can be touched more than 140 times before they’re finally executed. We can’t slow down the work that much.”

Currently, the board has five supervisors who each represent more than 2 million residents. But Horvath has been pushing to expand that number in order to better represent their constituents.

“I think we absolutely need to expand the board,” she said. “And I was grateful to Supervisor Mitchell for welcoming me to co-author this motion with her. It’s ultimately going to be up to the people of Los Angeles County whether that change is made. But I see it as our duty to not only lay the foundation by doing the research, the homework and providing all the understanding of the how and what makes the most sense, and what are the best practices for governing a place like LA County. We hear often that there is no place like it. So I think whatever we decide is going to be tailor-made to the experience of Los Angeles County.”

Horvath says that in her public service work she has always prioritized tackling the hardest problems, building diverse coalitions and delivering results for her communities. And those are still the things her constituents can continue to expect from her in the years ahead.

“My focus is how do we bring people together and finding the right kinds of practical solutions that take care of people, meeting them where they are and providing them support,” she said. “We are working tirelessly both on policy fixes because that is what we need to do as executives who are leading the county. But we will also do that in the services that we provide through our district offices being accessible so we can hear what people need us to change in the county.”

Send us your thoughts to InFocusSoCal@charter.com and watch at 9 a.m. and noon Sundays.