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Janice Hahn, Kathryn Barger Join LA County Board Of Supervisors

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Janice Hahn and Kathryn Barger were sworn in Monday as the newest members of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, giving the panel a female majority with a decidedly progressive bent.

Barger has 28 years of experience working for the county, taking on the role as Michael D. Antonovich's chief deputy supervisor.

She becomes the only registered Republican on the board for at least the next two years.

Hahn gave up her seat in the U.S. House of Representatives for California's 44th District to pursue the powerful local post.

Now she's one of five people who controls a nearly $30 billion annual budget, and oversees services for roughly 10 million people countywide.

Hahn's father, Kenneth, served on the board for 40 years. The building in which the supervisors meet each Tuesday is named after him. Hahn is also a familiar face in local politics, having served on the Los Angeles City Council from 2001 to 2011.

"My father taught me that a county supervisor is truly at his, or her, best when they leverage their influence to bring everyone together to solve problems," Hahn said after she was sworn in by her brother, former Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn, who is a Los Angeles Superior Court judge.

Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas has teamed up with Hahn to submit a motion at the new board's first meeting for a quarter-cent sales tax to fund the fight against homelessness.

Ridley-Thomas has also joined with Barger on a proposal to have homelessness declared a county emergency, a move that would pave the way for the sales tax to go before voters in a special countywide election in March.

The pair replaces Supervisors Don Knabe and Michael Antonovich in representing the county's Fourth and Fifth Districts, respectively.

Knabe and Antonovich termed out after a combined 56 years in office.

(©2016 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)

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