A proposal to revert to an earlier form of county government in which the chief executive would have less power failed on a 2-3 vote by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.
Supervisor Michael Antonovich championed the effort to repeal a 2007 ordinance that created the position of chief executive officer. Adopted as an interim measure, the ordinance also organized departments by key policy concerns. It was designed to centralize administration, integrate work across departments and enable the board to focus on policy.
Antonovich said the 2007 change created too much bureaucratic distance between the board and department heads, who typically report to one of the CEO’s deputies or senior assistants.
“It hasn’t proved necessary for high-level executives to run interference between the CEO and ultimately the board,” Antonovich said. “In some cases, it has been a hindrance.”
The board is responsible for hiring and firing department heads, and the extra management layers have made it harder to evaluate performance, Antonovich said.
Policy “clusters” focused on public safety, children and family well- being, community and municipal services, health-mental health and operations would have been retained under Antonovich’s proposal, but led by a chief administrative officer rather than a CEO.
Antonovich, whose motion was co-authored by Supervisor Mark Ridley- Thomas, noted that it is a time of “unprecedented” change for the county. At the end of the year, Supervisors Gloria Molina and Zev Yaroslavsky will reach their term limits and cede their seats to newly elected officials. Voters will also chose a new sheriff and assessor in November.
In addition to finding a replacement for retiring CEO William Fujioka, the board is looking for a new public health director and auditor-controller.
Last week, Yaroslavsky pushed for a vote on Antonovich’s proposal, which had been pending for weeks, saying it would begin to affect the board’s ability to recruit a new CEO.
Today, Yaroslavsky, Molina and Supervisor Don Knabe voted against the measure without comment.
— City News Service