![\"FILE](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/LDN-L-EMERGENCY-EVENT-0210-09.jpg\")
FILE | Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath (Photo by Mark Savage, Contributing Photographer)<\/p>\nFILE | Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath (Photo by Mark Savage, Contributing Photographer)<\/p>\n
First-term Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath faces three challengers in her first election bid since winning the Third District open seat in 2022 by beating long-time San Fernando Valley-based State Sen. Bob Hertzberg by 29,000 votes.<\/p>\n
Horvath faced issues in her district that includes county areas devastated by the Palisades fire. In addition, she\u2019s pushed for price-gouging regulations for displaced fire victims facing high rents.<\/p>\n
In a major motion, she led the divorce from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), while leading the way in forming the new county Homeless Services & Housing Department<\/a>. She also placed a county reform measure on the ballot despite strong opposition from two fellow supervisors. Still, Measure G<\/a> passed and will soon add four new members to the five-person board, create an elected county chief executive officer, and just recently prompted the board to create the first-ever LA County Ethics Commission.<\/p>\n District 3 is 446 square miles large, home to 2 million people. It includes portions of 10 cities, 26 unincorporated communities, and 49 neighborhoods in the City of Los Angeles. The district stretches from Santa Monica to Hollywood, Sylmar to San Fernando, and takes in most of the Santa Monica Mountains and the San Fernando Valley.<\/p>\n The four candidates running for the seat in the June 2 primary are: Tonia Arey,<\/a> 55, a Realtor who lives in Calabasas; Horvath<\/a>, 43, the incumbent who once was mayor and councilmember of West Hollywood;\u00a0Carmenlina Minasova Minasyan<\/a>, 54, a reform activist from Los Angeles, and Tom\u00e1s Sidenfaden<\/a>, 45, a software engineer from Los Angeles.<\/p>\n The candidates expressed their views in a questionnaire from this news group.<\/a><\/p>\n Arey said the board is not \u201cgetting the job done,\u201d in areas of homelessness, public safety and emergency preparedness. \u201cRight now, it feels like the focus is on bureaucracy and politics instead of solving real problems,\u201d Arey said.<\/p>\n She agreed with breaking from LAHSA but has concerns about the new county homeless services department. As to Measure G, she\u2019s worried it will cost county taxpayers. \u201cExpanding from five to nine supervisors raises a basic question: Where is the money coming from?\u201d<\/p>\n Arey wants the Board to get the 10 million county residents much more prepared for a wildfire or other disaster by performing readiness audits annually. \u201cDon\u2019t tell us the system works. Prove it. Test alerts. Test coordination. Fix what fails,\u201d Arey wrote.<\/p>\n On the rise in jail deaths, Arey said the Board needs to work more closely using \u201cclear leadership and defined responsibility\u201d with the Sheriff\u2019s Department.<\/p>\n She disagreed with the public being limited to one-minute per board item. She thinks the time allotted should be raised to five minutes. She called Measure ER, a half-cent sales tax on the ballot to plug the gap in county healthcare services due to federal cuts \u201cthe wrong approach.\u201d<\/p>\n As to two major reforms under her watch, Supervisor Horvath said her leadership is moving to a central, homeless services system within the county that will bring the structural reforms and accountability lacking under LAHSA. \u201cAs we enter this transition, we are ensuring providers are paid and financial best practices are in place,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n Second, she described Measure G as \u201cthe most significant reform of LA County government in over a century.\u201d She said expansion of the board from five to nine members helps by \u201cbroadening representation and reducing concentrated power.\u201d<\/p>\n In response to the Palisades and Eaton fires, Horvath said the county is modernizing the communication system used by first responders. Also, she said the county found water supply was sufficient but pressure was not, so Public Works is upgrading infrastructure. The county has hosted emergency preparedness fairs teaching people to build go-bags and create evacuation plans, she said.<\/p>\n Horvath did not take a position on Measure ER, saying she\u2019s leaving it up to the voters to make the decision.<\/p>\n Regarding jail deaths, Horvath called them \u201ca failure of our system to protect the most vulnerable people in our care.\u201d The board has improved security screenings and added more cameras. But she also emphasized investing in prevention, such as mental health care,\u00a0 substance abuse treatment and other supportive measures to reduce recidivism.<\/p>\n Horvath said the one-minute rule, which \u201ccan feel restrictive,\u201d is not the only way the public can communicate with the board. \u201cThat\u2019s why it\u2019s important we pair time limits with other ways to engage \u2014 written comments, digital submissions and community meetings \u2014 so people can share more detailed input,\u201d Horvath said.<\/p>\n Minasyan rated the board as \u201cnot good\u201d due to \u201call the fires, empty reservoir, crime, high taxes, homeless and drug addictions.\u201d She later added: \u201cOur government system is broken and too often works only for billionaires rather than local residents.\u201d<\/p>\n She wants the county to follow \u201cthe values God teaches us.\u201d She also favors \u201ccentralized homelessness and mental health services, including free detox and recovery programs for those struggling with drug and alcohol addiction.\u201d<\/p>\n For better emergency preparedness, she wants to reduce 9-1-1 response times and offer free EMT-to-paramedic training. She\u2019s calling for stronger brush-clearing measures and building more water reservoirs.<\/p>\n On the surge in jail deaths, Minasyan said the justice system is not working. She said many defendants take plea deals \u201cjust to finish their sentences, and then end up committing crimes again. The justice system, including the jail system, needs reform.\u201d<\/p>\n She said she\u2019s \u201cnot in favor\u201d of Measure ER. She also said Measure G\u2019s reforms \u201cis not a fix to problems\u201d and \u201ccreates more spending.\u201d To increase public participation, she would raise the speaking time limit to three minutes.<\/p>\n Sidenfaden said the board has a big budget but is not delivering tantamount results, especially on homelessness, housing and public safety. \u201cWe\u2019re still building $750,000-per-unit permanent housing that takes a decade to deliver while 45,000 unsheltered homeless citizens suffer on our streets,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He calls for more emergency shelters on government land. \u201cEnforce public camping bans when shelter beds are available,\u201d he said. The new county homeless services and housing department \u201cis just rearranging deck chairs.\u201d<\/p>\n The county has not moved fast enough helping fire survivors rebuild, he said. \u201cWe need to clear the red tape, take the lead on reconstruction and stop letting jurisdictional confusion slow recovery for families who\u2019ve lost everything,\u201d Sidenfaden said.<\/p>\n Alerts are too disorganized and the county needs a \u201cunified, real-time communication platform across Fire, Sheriff and OEM (Office of\u00a0 Emergency Management) \u2013<\/a>\u2013 a clear, codified authority so alerts don\u2019t require a game of telephone between departments.\u201d To prevent fires, firefighting equipment and personnel should be pre-positioned in high-risk areas during Red Flag events, he said.<\/p>\n![\"Tonia](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Tonia-Arey-1.jpg\")
Tonia Arey (Courtesy photo)<\/p>\n![\"Carmenlina](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Carmenlina-Minasova-Minasyan.jpg\")
Carmenlina Minasova Minasyan (courtesy photo)<\/p>\n![\"Tom\u00e1s](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/LDN-L-VG-TSIDENFADEN-01.jpg\")
Tom\u00e1s Sidenfaden is a candidate for Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors District 3 in 2026. (Photo courtesy of Tom\u00e1s Sidenfaden)<\/p>\n