Among the many aspects of the November ballot measure to reform the structure of Los Angeles County government, the one involving the chief executive is the most difficult.
But it has become one of the most controversial, dividing unions and provincial politicians even more than the proposed expansion of the Board of Supervisors from five to nine members.
Proponents say electing a chief executive rather than an appointed position brings more responsibility to one of the province’s most powerful offices, as voters elect and potentially saddle the chief executive. Opponents warn it would only turn America’s largest state into a backwater country.
“The new executive director is an experiment at best,” said Richard Pippin, director of the Association. for the Los Angeles sheriff’s deputy, one of several workers’ unions with the elected chief executive politicizing the office and increasing “internal political games.”
But it already has a designated director, said Fernando Guerra, director of the Los Angeles Studies Center at Loyola Marymount University, who supports the measure.
“This is one of the political positions in the state of California,” Guerra said, noting that the current chief executive can be fired by a majority vote of county supervisors. “Anyone who says it’s not a political position doesn’t understand politics.”
Five supervisors were appointed Fecia DavenportLongtime county employee, serving as executive director in 2021. Oversees day-to-day county operations and writes the $45 billion budget.
Simply put, the supervisors provide the county’s vision and Davenport is responsible for carrying it out. The supervisors can fire him, but the voters cannot.
The November ballot measure asks voters whether they want to significantly change the way Los Angeles County is run. In addition to expanding the board and making the chief executive an elected position, the ballot measure, chaired by Supervisors Lindsey Horvath and Janice Hahn, would create a new ethics commission.
Supervisor Kathryn Barger said at last month’s board meeting before she and Supervisor Holly Mitchell prevailed over their colleagues, “It’s clear from the conversations that I think the most important proposed ordinance is an elected county executive,” 3 to 2, putting the measure on the ballot.
Under the ballot measure, the elected chief has veto power over board policies and has full authority over department heads. Currently, supervisors have final say over departments.
Raphael Sonnenschein, executive director of the Haynes Foundation, which funds research on governance in Greater Los Angeles, said it creates a system of checks and balances that most voters should be familiar with.
The comptroller will be the legislative branch. And the chief executive, like the president of the United States, heads the executive branch. Now, Sonenshein said, the supervisors are doing all of that.
“There is a consensus that the executive branch is a branch in itself,” he said. “You never think about congressional offices.”
Croatia motion several counties with elected officials, including Cook County, Illinois (population 5.2 million), to write ballots; Montgomery County, MD (1 million); and Cuyahoga County, Ohio (1.2 million).
But for most larger counties, the norm is to appoint a chief, said Jason Grant, campaign manager. International City/County Management Association.
The association, which often works with local governments on restructuring, wrote a letter to the Board of Supervisors in July saying an elected leader was a bad idea. The letter cites a study showing there is less corruption in a “board of trustees” form of government with an appointed executive, such as currently exists in the province.
An elected leader, Grant said, can be influenced by donors and political allies.
Los Angeles County public employee unions oppose the elected CEO, saying the system will disrupt operations.
AFSCME Local 685, which represents probation officers, wants to be governed by a “career, not a politician.” Dave Gillott, president of Firefighters Local 1014 in Los Angeles, urged the board to include language about the elected executive director “not being able to.”
But the province’s largest union, which employs 55,000 workers, is willing to give him a chance.
David Green, president of Service Employees International Union Local 721, said his union is leaning toward supporting the CEO-elect, in part because of frustrations in recent contract negotiations.
Green said he could easily get five county supervisors. But the person who wields most of the negotiating power — the chief executive — remains behind the scenes.
“We can obviously do better,” Green said. “Will the elected director fix this? I don’t know. I don’t have a crystal ball.”
Times staff writer David Zahniser contributed to this report.
