President's Message: Third District Supervisor Race Will Set the Tone for the Next Decade By Carlos Clayton, CAPE President

By now I hope that every CAPE member living in the Third Supervisorial District has already voted for our candidate, Sheila Kuehl. She is clearly the more experienced candidate and strongly supported by all the County unions.

CAPE is helping lead the effort on an ambitious, combined independent expenditure campaign coordinated through the L.A. County Federation of Labor. Their efforts have been outstanding and will educate more than a million L.A. County voters on the Westside and in the San Fernando Valley. The County Federation independent expenditure, IE, will spend roughly three million dollars. The two candidates have roughly the same budget, which means there could be $8 to $10 million spent on voter contact. As I said, if you live in the district, your mailbox is probably full, and we're doing our job right if you have already voted.

When Ms. Kuehl takes her seat on the County Board of Supervisors, she will be one of two new Supervisors this cycle, and one of four new Supervisors by the end of the next election cycle in 2016. The County Board of Supervisors has never seen that kind of new blood, and Sheila Kuehl is uniquely qualified to set a new tone for the Board and for the County.

Those of us who have been involved in labor-management relations at the County level have very high hopes that we can start over with County officials and work on a relationship based on mutual respect for our part in making the County run effectively and efficiently. Without being too critical, it is our collective hope that we can leave the County's 'take it or leave it' attitude in the past.

The winner in the 3rd District race will have three terms, 12 years, and will join 1st District Supervisor-elect Hilda Solis to make a mark on the County. Their predecessors, Zev Yaroslavsky and Gloria Molina have been on the Board of Supervisors for 20 years and 22 years, respectively. Term limits will prevent that length of tenure for the current and future Supervisors unless state laws are changed.

For a list of CAPE Endorsements for the November 2014 General Election (click here).