This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Politics & Government

Knabe Talks State of County at Cerritos Republicans Club Annual BBQ

Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe talks about the state of the county at the Cerritos Republican's Club Annual Barbecue Fundraiser.

With the delicious smell of grilling burgers and hot dogs wafting through the air, dozens gathered for the 's annual fundraiser barbecue on July 12 at .

Club members and guests met to socialize and listen to speaker Don Knabe -- former Cerritos City Councilman and Mayor, and now current LA County Supervisor.

The meeting began with a group prayer and pledge of allegiance before everyone dug into the delicious food. Though the main course included burgers, veggie burgers and hot dogs, there were many side dishes and desserts brought by members of the club.

Find out what's happening in Cerritos-Artesiawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Many important Cerritos Republicans were also in attendence including city councilman and Mayor . 

After everyone had a chance to eat and grab a bit of dessert, the President of the club, Matt Kauble introduced Supervisor Knabe who discussed the state of the county.

Find out what's happening in Cerritos-Artesiawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

California Redistricting

Supervisor Knabe immediately delved into the topic of redistricting.

“There are a number of plans out there right now,” said Knabe, “In this particular case they're attempting to create two Latino seats. To do that there has to be a lot of movement. One plan moves three million people. Three million people out of ten million people.”

“Of the twelve plans submitted, eight of them were illegal. And the Supreme Court has ruled that racial redistricting can no longer take place. So we're on pretty solid ground as it relates to that, but that doesn't mean they won't try.

“The interesting thing is, you've got that open seat today, the 36th between Craig Huey and Janice Hahn. That is a pure democratic seat, the numbers are pretty close right now.”

“In the new map, that seat really becomes a republican seat. It pushes it south and once again picks up the Palos Verdes peninsula," Knabe said. "That seat could become a republican seat in 2012.”

Summing up his thoughts on redistricting Knabe said, “It's an interesting process, you get to do it every 10 years. 10 years ago we voted to keep it the same, we didn't move a block, I don't think it's going to change that much.”

State Budget

Knabe next spoke of the state budget, “The first budget was a joke, the second was light on details."

“We've been putting money away for the bad times, we just had no idea it was gonna get to this particular point. The latest numbers coming out of Sacramento will probably be another 380 million dollar hit to the county of Los Angeles.”

Realigning State, County and City Services

Knabe went on to talk about proposed realignments of state, county, and city services.

“You can talk about realignment all day, if realignment just means pushing programs down to the local level; cities, counties, school districts, whatever, without the revenues, it's an absolute joke. Devastating to cities and counties throughout the state.”

As far as Los Angeles County is concerned, Knabe said, “We've reduced our budget in the last three years by about 19 percent. Which is a pretty big hit, we've done it without layoffs, without furloughs."

"We've had a good partnership with our unions. We have over 100,000 employees, and over 90 percent of those are... represented by unions. They've given us two years of no raises or cost of living increases. At the end of the day they know we're all in this thing together.”

Transportation Project Developments

One subject the LA County Supervisor seemed to find particularly annoying is the difficulty in getting transportation projects going.

“You wanna put people back to work, we could do 30 years of projects in 10 years, put almost 200,000 people back to work with a job, a good paying job. The problem, at the end of the day is, while we think it's a great idea, the cities and counties don't want to have to go to the voters for a tax increase or just a tax. So they're not really supportive of our programs.”

Knabe emphasized that the news wasn't all bad.

“We just had the groundbreaking here for the Carmenita overpass," he said. "That's the lynchpin of five other major projects, 605 and Alondra, and a bunch of other projects that are on the books or have been on the books."

“It was a big day for me because a lot of folks sacrificed their political career that have been supporting these projects up to 20 years ago. This battle (has) been going on for 20 years. Part of the measure R success is this project. Big day for Cal Trans, big day for Metro, big day for the surrounding cities from Cerritos to Santa Fe Springs to Downey.”

The NFL in LA County

On a lighter note, Knabe talked about the two possible NFL franchises that may be coming to Los Angeles. There are currently two proposed stadiums, one backed by AEG and Farmers Insurance in Downtown Los Angeles, and the other in San Gabriel Valley backed by Ed Roski.

“It's a battle between AEG and Ed Roski, the bottom line there is whoever gets the team first wins," Knabe said. "Roski's got his plans approved, he can put a shovel in the ground tomorrow. Leiweke (CEO of AEG) and those guys have a lot of work to do downtown yet, trying to get through the city council.”

Safe Surrender Program

Knabe wrapped up his speech with one of his favorite causes, the Safe Surrender Program.

“It's what I'm most proud of in my political life. We just had our 86th Safe Surrender in June. It's been an amazing process," Knabe said proudly. "Over the years, being able to share a birthday party, or hold a baby on its first birthday knowing that it was that close to being in a trash can, a lake or an ocean.”

After his speech, Knabe took questions from the audience concerning Social Services in the county and details of the current redistricting. Afterwords, he stuck around to shake hands and talk with members of the club.

Before the meeting adjourned club President Kauble thanked Knabe and the members of the club for coming to the annual barbecue and introduced fellow Cerritos Republican Club Member and poet, L. B. Strawn, who read aloud a poem he wrote back in 1976 about soldiers and the nations forefathers aptly titled, “Patriot”. 

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Cerritos-Artesia