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Friends of the Fourth
District:
Imagine a Fortune 500 company that did not have a Chief Executive
Officer (CEO) within its corporate structure. Rather than a single
leader at the top of the organization, dozens of division heads
report directly to the corporation’s Board of Directors instead of
to a CEO. Instead of that Board being singularly focused on setting
policy and direction for the company and representing the interests
of the shareholders, they must also narrowly focus their attention
on the day-to-day business of running the company.
Frankly, it’s a scenario that does not work. That’s why you have
CEO’s to run the daily business of companies in Corporate America.
Therefore, one would think a strong Chief Executive would also exist
in Los Angeles County, America’s largest County.
With over 90,000 employees and an annual budget of over $20 billion,
Los Angeles County rivals the size of any of our nation’s largest
businesses. Yet, under our existing structure, our equivalent of a
CEO, the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), has limited authority.
The directors of the more than three dozen County departments do not
report to the CAO. Instead they report directly to the Board of
Supervisors. As a result, 39 different department heads report
directly to the Board and in turn, those 39 department heads have
five different bosses.
The time has come to empower the CAO with the responsibilities and
oversight of the daily operations of the County. That is why I have
recently introduced a proposal to create a much stronger Chief
Administrative Officer. My joint recommendation with Supervisor Zev
Yaroslavsky calls for a Charter Amendment to the County Code to be
placed before the voters during the next Countywide election in June
2008. The Amendment would do the following: transfer to the CAO the
authority for hiring, firing and disciplining of department heads,
establish that non-elected department heads will report to the CAO,
establish a clause that guarantees the Board of Supervisors will not
interfere with the CAO, and change the name of the position to
“Chief Executive Officer.”
Although dozens of County departments would report to the CEO under
this proposal, certain departments would not be included. These
include the elected independent department heads, such as the
Sheriff, Assessor and District Attorney, as well as departments that
would continue to report to the Board of Supervisors, including the
CEO, the Executive Officer of the Board, the Auditor-Controller, and
County Counsel.
This proposal represents good public policy for Los Angeles County
and provides a clear and efficient chain of command and
accountability. By giving our top administrator more power to run
the day-to-day business of County agencies, it ensures the Board of
Supervisors can remain fully focused on the interests of the
taxpayers and citizens they represent.
DON KNABE
Supervisor, Fourth District
County of Los Angeles
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