Last November, a two-thirds super-majority of voters passed Measure K which sought county government reform. And from its very inception, the measure has met with major pushback from county government as roadblock after roadblock has been set in the way of implementing the reforms spelled out in Measure K. And now when it appeared to be running out of options, our own 42nd district state assemblyman, Chad Mayes, has introduced a new piece of legislation that aims to defeat Measure K once and for all. Here’s reporter Mike Lipsitz with more on the efforts to weaken county government reform and deny the will of the people…
Placed on the ballot by the government watchdog organization, The Red Brennan Group, Measure K imposed a single four-year term limit on county supervisors and capped their annual compensation at $60,000. Almost 67 percent of county voters approved the measure, defeating a hastily written measure conjured up by county supervisors themselves. Supervisors filed a lawsuit with the aim of invalidating the measure.
The latest assault on Measure K comes from Assemblyman Chad Mayes, who in February introduced Assembly Bill 428. If passed, AB428 would legislate that county supervisor term limits could not be restricted to fewer than two and any adjustments to supervisor compensation could be made only by county supervisors themselves. AB428 appears to have been written with the sole purpose of denying county voters the reforms they already approved.
