L.A. County 5th District supervisor 2024 primary election voter guide

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Four candidates are challenging incumbent Supervisor Kathryn Barger for her 5th District seat on the powerful Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, a position that includes managing how billions of dollars are spent on homelessness, mental health and many other social services.

The supervisorial seats are nonpartisan. If no one wins more than 50% of the votes on March 5, the top two candidates will compete in a November runoff election.

The Times surveyed each candidate, and their answers are below, summarized or edited for length.

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Who are the candidates?

Kathryn Barger

Barger, 63, was first elected to the Board of Supervisors in 2016 after working for L.A. County since the late 1980s, including for former Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich. Barger is a Republican endorsed by labor unions, including SEIU Local 721 and the Assn. for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs, which represents rank-and-file members of the Sheriff’s Department, and Planned Parenthood Advocacy Project Los Angeles County Action Fund.

Konstantine Anthony

Anthony, 43, a Democrat and Burbank City Council member, aims to be “the most progressive supervisor on the board” and said he was the first diagnosed autistic mayor in the U.S. when he served as Burbank mayor from 2022 to 2023. He is endorsed by Feel the Bern Democratic Club, Los Angeles and the Stonewall Young Democrats

Perry Goldberg

Goldberg, 54, is an attorney, nonprofit leader and entrepreneur who said he was previously registered as a Democrat, but recently updated to “no party preference” to better represent his “independent ‘purple’ viewpoint.” He said he graduated top of his class with an economics degree from the Wharton School of Business and with honors from Harvard Law School, where he obtained his law degree.

Chris Holden

Holden, 63, a Democrat representing Pasadena in the state Assembly, was elected to his seat in 2012 and cannot run again because of term limits. Holden, a lifelong L.A. County resident, entered public service as a member of the Pasadena City Council and in 1997-99 was Pasadena’s mayor. He is endorsed by the L.A. County Democratic Party and labor unions, including healthcare workers at SEIU Local 2015 and SEIU Local 121RN.

Marlon Marroquin

Marroquin, 35, a civic technologist and businessman, said he would bring to the position his perspective as someone who is neuro-diverse and a trafficking survivor. He said his campaign is about moving beyond the rhetoric of “keeping it red” or “flipping it blue,” adding that “such binary thinking is obsolete.”

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Where is the 5th District?

Three of the five supervisorial seats are on the ballot. Supervisors are limited to three four-year terms. (If Barger wins, this would be her final term.)

The 5th District seat represents 2 million people living across 2,785 square miles of northern L.A. County, a larger area than the other four districts combined.

The 5th District includes 83 unincorporated communities and portions of 20 cities, including Santa Clarita, Burbank, Glendale, Lancaster and Palmdale. It is bordered by San Bernardino County to the east, Ventura County to the west and Kern County to the north.

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Why are you running for this office?

Barger: “Many of our challenges are compounded by policies coming from Sacramento that create more problems than they solve, and don’t reflect the needs or desires of our communities. I have led our county’s efforts to reform state policies on mental health, housing, business and public safety because I truly see and understand the impact on the ground. I am passionate for standing up for our communities, understanding their needs, and advocating for the better solutions they deserve.”

Anthony: “The L.A. County Board of Supervisors is the largest municipal government body in the United States, and I am running for this seat to become the first progressive office holder of District 5 since 1980. I am the only corporate-free candidate in this race, and I have the skill set necessary to run a large local office. This seat involves a lot of executive oversight, which plays well to my strengths.”

Goldberg: “L.A. voters face a fundamental question: Are our problems solvable? I am certain that they are, and that the supervisors are in a unique position to solve them. A minimum qualification for this position should be that the candidate has a detailed and comprehensive plan for addressing L.A.’s most pressing problems, yet amazingly I am the only person in this race who can say that.”

Holden: “Throughout my public service, I’ve worked to ensure people feel like their government is responding to their needs. As an Assemblymember, I’ve brought people together to pursue progressive solutions that work. I’m running for county supervisor because the challenges we face need to be more urgently addressed. It’s time for Democratic leadership with a proven track record of getting things done for Los Angeles County to serve the 5th District.”

Marroquin: “I’m not here to offer miracle cures — no one person can fix everything. What I bring is a commitment to use my position and resources wisely, to work alongside others, to listen, learn, and lead in a way that truly makes a difference. ... My campaign isn’t about one person’s vision; it’s about transforming our shared challenges into opportunities for growth and safety.”

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Homelessness

Barger, who appointed herself in October to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority Commission, said she has pinpointed where bureaucracy slowed progress, including in hiring and getting money to cities for programs; improved accountability of the homeless services system through better data collection; and backed construction of thousands of housing units in the 5th District, including affordable housing with integrated social services where needed.

“In situations where we have made the housing and services available to individuals experiencing homelessness, we must incorporate enforcement into our response. This response can be, and should be, compassionate, and only implemented after offers of housing and services are made available,” Barger said, noting she has increased funding for homeless outreach teams who help unhoused people when their encampments are being removed from areas deemed unsafe or inhibiting business.

The use of enforcement is where Barger differed from at least one candidate.

Anthony, who said he was homeless for six weeks before he was elected to office in Burbank, said law enforcement should not be involved in homeless services.

“No amount of enforcement will ever create new housing or increase services,” Anthony said.

Instead, he said, L.A. County must increase pay and lower job qualifications to hire more social workers, including those in training; use tax dollars more wisely to build more outpatient behavioral health facilities; and incentivize building 500,000 housing units, including three- and four-bedroom units through tax abatement.

The heart of Goldberg’s plan is to build thousands of “water-smart small farms” amid the 400,000 acres of privately owned dormant land in the Antelope Valley, supplying residents there with both a job and a tiny home.

“By dramatically expanding the housing supply, my plan will drive down the cost of existing housing elsewhere thanks to supply and demand. Thus, the government will not need to spend money on subsidies and will not need to override the market dynamics,” Goldberg said.

Marroquin, a human trafficking survivor who has been homeless, said L.A. County “should be harnessing advanced machine learning to intelligently analyze homelessness data, leading to smarter and more cost-effective strategies.” He said he would also bring his lived experience to the job. “Those cold, hard steps were my bed,” Marroquin said of where he slept at 18, “but they also became the foundation of my empathy and commitment to those facing homelessness today.”

Holden said his approach as supervisor would be to expand mental health care, supportive housing — where residents are regularly seen by social workers at their homes — and job training for unhoused residents.

“I’ll lock arms with Mayor Karen Bass and work with her to rapidly house those living on our streets and prevent more families from falling into homelessness,” Holden said. “We need to ensure that every sector of our workforce has stable incomes and the financial security needed to thrive in our county.”

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Mental health

Holden said he’d make hiring at the county Department of Mental Health a priority, as it has struggled in recent years to quickly fill hundreds of openings. It isn’t possible, he said, to tackle homelessness and the mental health crisis without workers.

“Staffing shortages mean that it can take almost a month for someone in crisis to see a mental health provider,” Holden said. “This situation is untenable and county residents deserve better.”

Barger said that to address those staffing issues she pushed “to implement innovative recruitment and retention incentives that led to a 200% increase in mental health hiring in the last year.”

If reelected, Barger said, she’d continue the supervisors’ vision of the county mental health system always having available “someone to call, someone to respond, and somewhere to go.”

Goldberg said he believes L.A. County should provide universal healthcare specifically for mental health and substance abuse issues, which he’d pay for through the savings in his plan to address homelessness, including money saved from his agrarian desert community.

Marroquin said he wants to overhaul the county’s mental health system, focusing on accessibility and personalization. “Our system shouldn’t just be about aesthetically pleasing facilities with fancy expensive artwork; it’s about making services accessible and effective for everyone,” he said. “Many avoid seeking help because our current system fails to acknowledge that not all brains function alike.”

Anthony said he opposes Gov. Gavin Newsom’s CARE Court initiative, which L.A. County recently rolled out, and has worked for years to reform California’s conservatorship laws. “We need to expand treatment options through local outpatient centers across the county and expand outreach services into low-income and rural communities that are typically ignored,” Anthony said.

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Public safety

Anthony said he is an “abolitionist” who supports closing Men’s Central Jail and remote sheriff’s stations. He said he would create more opportunities for young people to thrive through county investments in arts, sports and other extracurricular activities in school districts with the lowest-income families, and set up alternatives for graduating seniors who don’t plan to attend college, including apprenticeships with local businesses and unions.

Holden said restoring trust between law enforcement and local communities is important. “We must also invest in what contributes to overall safety — good-paying jobs, a thriving local economy, housing stability, access to quality healthcare, child-care services, and parks and recreational opportunities,” he said, adding that increased oversight of the Sheriff’s Department would also be a priority for him as supervisor.

Goldberg said his plan includes not only addressing homelessness and untreated mental illness, which both contribute to fears of residents about safety, but also equipping small businesses with cameras that law enforcement could subpoena when evidence is needed, reducing recidivism by employing offenders leaving jail at the Antelope Valley farming project, and calling upon the Sheriff’s Department to rely more on nonlethal force.

Marroquin said he supports the county investing in advanced technology, like machine learning, for local law enforcement to use to “prevent crime and assist in catching criminals effectively and efficiently.”

“We could invest in more cost-effective technology that provides valuable data while maintaining individual privacy,” Marroquin said. “These solutions are not futuristic fantasies; they are accessible and practical tools.”

Barger said that to address staffing shortages at the Sheriff’s Department, she led efforts to finance eight new sheriff’s academy classes, an effort to address the shortage of deputies on patrol.

She said she has also pushed to expand the number of Sheriff’s Mental Evaluation Teams, which pair a clinician with a clinically trained deputy, but due to staffing shortages the county cannot launch more teams.

“Accountability is paramount for law enforcement, but we must make sure we are adequately resourcing and equipping our first responders to put them in the best position possible to serve,” Barger said.

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What the candidates are most proud of

Holden: “I am proud of my work to help get the Gold Line started and it’s been a solution that addresses climate change and increases economic benefits for L.A. County. I was involved in the planning and executing the initial stops connecting Pasadena to downtown L.A. In the Assembly, I have continued to help extend the Gold Line further, securing $290 million in funding for six new stations and introducing a plan to have the Gold Line connect the Burbank and Ontario airports.”

Marroquin: “My greatest accomplishments are not conventional milestones, but the relationships I’ve built and the insights I’ve gained from extraordinary individuals. For instance, Amanda, a fellow captive during a dark chapter in my life, embodies the resilience and strength that have deeply influenced me. Despite the language barrier and our dire circumstances, Amanda and I forged a bond that taught me invaluable lessons about perseverance, empathy, and the human spirit.”

Anthony: “Since I won my seat, these are the votes and actions I’m proudest of: increased Burbank grocery store worker pay by $5 per hour during the COVID-19 pandemic; mandated COVID-19 vaccines for Burbank city employees; limited food delivery app fees to 20% for Burbank restaurants; banned the sale of mylar balloons in Burbank; removed unconstitutional, homophobic ordinances and gendered language from Burbank city code.”

Barger: “I am most proud of the healthcare and housing projects that I have brought forward, projects that provide essential services and housing across the 5th District. The Centennial development is a mixed-use residential and commercial project that will bring thousands of homes and jobs to the 5th District.”

Goldberg: “I am proud that I’ve had accomplishments in many different fields, including as a lawyer helping inventors, an entrepreneur working in healthcare, and as a nonprofit leader. I think these accomplishments show that I have skills that translate across arenas and that would serve me well as supervisor.”

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