The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, founded in 1850, is the largest local legislative body in the country and manages a $35 billion budget, among other things.
For the first time since its inception, the board now consists of all-female members.
In Focus: SoCal host Tanya McRae highlights the board's work and achievements by sitting down with the supervisors, dubbed the "Fab Five" — Holly Mitchell, Sheila Kuehl, Hilda Solis, Janice Hahn, and Kathryn Barger.
The women, who hail from different backgrounds, talk about how they got their start in politics, their journeys to becoming supervisors, and the struggles they've faced.
Solis, who joined the board in December 2014, has had many firsts. She was the first Latina to serve in the U.S. Cabinet when she served as President Barack Obama's secretary of labor. She was also the first person in her family to go to college.
"I thought to myself, 'How are my parents going to afford to send me to college when everyone is expecting me just to get out of high school and go work and help contribute to the family?'" Solis said.
It all started with someone talking to her about going to college, and then Solis paved the way for her siblings to attend and graduate from college, she explained.
Kuehl was the first openly LGBTQ official in the California Legislature when she joined in 1994 after working as a public interest lawyer.
"You must recognize when you are the first of anything because all eyes are on you to really screw up," she said. "But you don't run for that. I ran like everybody else on the issues."
Kuehl also discusses the challenges ahead in 2021 related to the COVID-19 pandemic, including workforce development and housing.
Hahn and Barger have deep roots in service. Barger is the only Republican on the board and serves the fifth district. She shares about her father's legacy as California's Insurance Commissioner under then-Gov. Ronald Reagan.
"I saw first hand the dedication that my father had," Barger said, adding that he instilled a strong work ethic in her and her siblings.
Barger also discusses the challenges she faced at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and the importance of asking for help when facing mental health problems.
Hahn was elected to represent the fourth district in 2016 and has continued her commitment to ending the homelessness crisis. Her father, Kenny Hahn, served on the Board of Supervisors for four decades. Her brother James Hahn was mayor of Los Angeles.
"It's no surprise the Hahn DNA tends to lend itself to being in politics," Hahn said. "My uncle Gordon was also a city councilmember, so I have it in my family to go into public service."
Hahn added that she and her brother had the opportunity to see what their father did by attending events and talking about politics at the table. She shared the lessons she learned from him. She also said it took her longer to get into politics because she "was managing a family and raising kids."
The newest member is Mitchell, who was elected to the board in November. She has also had to balance motherhood and her career as a state senator and assemblymember. She authored and passed more than 90 laws during that time, including the Crown Act in 2019.
"The bill acknowledges that hair is a race-based trait," Mitchell said. "My hair naturally grows differently than my caucasian sisters, and it has texture."
Although the beauty industry has perpetuated the belief that straight hair is beautiful and acceptable, Mitchell explained how the Crown Act was needed to protect Black women's hair under the law.
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