LOS ANGELES – The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously adopted the recommendations of the Interim Chief Executive Officer to repair the county’s governance structure and provide increased service efficiency, Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich’s Office announced Tuesday, July 7.
“The previous costly and bureaucratic interim governance structure was bloated and hindered the ability to provide coordinated services to emancipated youth, veterans, the mentally ill and other vital services,” Antonovich stated in a press announcement.
The board in February unanimously approved a motion by Antonovich and Supervisor Sheila Kuehl that directed the Interim CEO to provide “flexibility, transparency and accountability” to the county governance structure. According to Antonovich’s Office, the new structure provides direct interaction with the board and departments, while improving decision-making by creating ad hoc units in the Chief Executive Office dedicated to accomplishing board priorities.
Los Angeles County Interim Chief Executive Officer Sachi A. Hamai was instructed by the Board of Supervisors on Feb. 24, 2015, to recommend amending the county governance structure so to reduce bureaucracy and provide more efficient, effective, and innovative constituent services.
Hamai, in her report to the board, agreed the Board of Supervisors requires additional time to focus on policy and effective service delivery, noting that the county has much at stake to streamline its overall processes.
Her report states that the county – with its $27.1 billion dollar budget and nearly 108,000 budgeted positions distributed over 30 departments – provides a vast array of direct services to more than 10 million residents spread over 4,000 square miles and organized into 88 cities and numerous unincorporated communities.
The new governance structure puts an end to the failed 2007 interim structure, an ordinance that the Board of Supervisors adopted to create a “Chief Executive Officer” (CEO). A big consequence of the 2007 interim structure, according to Antonovich’s Office, was that it added layers of county bureaucracy that “increased distance between departments and the Board of Supervisors – thereby reducing accountability to County residents.”
After 18 months in place, the Economy and Efficiency Commission reported mixed results with the 2007 interim structure, “noting an unacceptably high level of tension between the Office of the CEO and the board offices, and a lack of new processes to inform the Board’s agenda setting and policy making processes,” according to the Interim CEO’s report.
The interim governance structure remained in place from 2007 to 2014, during which, “the interim governance structure generally did not meet the board’s expectations in [some] areas, such as the promised improvements to accountability or operational effectiveness,” the report stated.
The Interim CEO’s recommendations seek to remedy the failed expectations, according to Hamai’s report, by “establish[ing] a governance system and organization that clarifies the reporting structure, improves communications between the board offices and departments, and recognizes the board must act expeditiously on a wide range of policies and issues.”
Under the new county governance structure, non-elected department heads will report directly to the board so to “reestablish the two-way, uninterrupted communications channel between the Board of Supervisors and department heads and other key department executives,” according to the report.
Whereas the role of the CEO under this governance structure, will contain three countywide support service areas that include Budget & Operations Management, Central Services, and Compensation & Risk
Management. The report states that these areas will monitor and provide the required oversight of the departments for budgetary and operational effectiveness.
At its July 7 meeting, the board also directed the Interim CEO to report back in 90 days with additional changes to governance to further “enhance operations.”
To read Interim Chief Executive Officer Sachi A. Hamai’s July 2015 County Government Report, visit LACounty.gov/bos.
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