Wednesday, September 16, 2026

Barger’s Office Announces Measure ER Oversight Appointee as Pasadena Seeks Review of Its Share

[Supervisor Kathryn Barger via Facebook]

Pasadena and Long Beach, the county’s only cities with their own health departments, have asked supervisors to review their 1% share of the half-cent health tax

Los Angeles County supervisors approved Supervisor Kathryn Barger’s appointment of Marlee Lauffer to the Measure ER oversight committee Sept. 15, her office said in a news release, as Pasadena seeks a review of its share of the tax.

The nine-member Citizens’ Oversight Advisory Committee will review revenue and spending from the voter-approved half-cent sales tax, evaluate the county’s annual independent audit and report publicly, according to Barger’s office. It will make recommendations before supervisors adopt a spending plan next spring for fiscal year 2027-28.

The Board of Supervisors approved the appointment unanimously, Barger’s office said.

Pasadena has a direct stake in how the money is divided. In a July 20 letter to the Board, Mayor Victor Gordo asked supervisors to review the 1% combined share of Measure ER revenue set aside for the Pasadena Public Health Department and Long Beach’s health department. Together, the two cities generate about 6.2% of the tax’s revenue, according to a city staff report, and they are the only cities in the county that run their own health departments.

The Pasadena Public Health Department has also been exploring ways to have at least one of the two city health departments represented on the oversight committee, according to an August city staff report.

Voters approved Measure ER in June. The tax is intended to help fund county hospitals, community clinics and other safety-net health services amid federal cuts to Medi-Cal funding, according to Barger’s office.

Barger opposed the measure, citing the added burden on taxpayers, according to a statement she issued after it passed. LAist reported that she was the only supervisor to vote against sending it to voters.

“Marlee has spent her career building trust between institutions and the communities they serve,” Barger said in announcing the appointment. “That’s exactly the perspective this committee needs as we hold the County accountable for every dollar Measure ER raises.”

Lauffer retired in June as president of the Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital Foundation and vice president of marketing and communications for Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital, roles she had held since 2015, according to a hospital news release. She was a founding director of the Bank of Santa Clarita. Barger’s office said Lauffer is a University of California, Los Angeles graduate and a past chair of the Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce, and received the College of the Canyons Foundation’s 2025 Silver Spur Community Service Award.

“County residents deserve transparency and accountability of their taxpayer dollars and I will ensure this tax revenue is spent on what voters were promised,” Lauffer said in the announcement.