It Is Time for Graves to Leave County Post

The question of Chief Administrative Officer Clifford Graves’ future is soon to be decided by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors. How they handle it will mark the latest step--albeit a very significant one--in an important period of transition for county government.

The changes began last year when voters elected three new members to the Board of Supervisors, in each case making an improvement on the incumbent leaving office. New Supervisor Susan Golding in particular has provided effective leadership, succeeding in scuttling the Harbor Square development on two county-owned parking lots, steering the board toward providing additional assistance to the homeless, and raising questions about how the county lets contracts and makes purchases.

In the November general election, voters also began the restructuring of county government by passing Proposition A and amending the county’s charter in ways that strengthened the chief administrative officer’s position. One Proposition A provision also made it possible for the board to fire the administrative officer with a simple three-vote majority, rather than the four votes previously required.

Other changes in the charter will probably be presented to the voters in 1986. Among the areas to be studied by the charter review panel now chaired by City Councilman William Jones are whether the size of the Board of Supervisors should be enlarged, the relationships among the county and the cities, and the roles of various elected and appointed department heads.

The other piece of the transition yet to come is the fate of Graves. He should leave--through either firing or resignation. Deciding that he must go and then determining how he will be replaced are among the most important decisions the Board of Supervisors is likely to make.

County government in recent years has suffered from the lack of a firm hand at the top and at the department head level. During this time, the county has endured a scandal over the contract for a $25-million telephone system, a personnel department in disarray because of the incompetence of its former director, and mismanagement and poor services at its mental health facilities. Supervisors also have complained about the administrative staff failing to keep the board apprised of important developments.

Graves’ seven-year tenure as chief administrator has been undistinguished, to say the least, and it is clearly time for him to go. The problems and laxity that have characterized the last few years signal the need for the supervisors to replace Graves with someone with strong management skills and the ability to bring about change in the 12,000-employee bureaucracy that spends nearly $1 billion a year. Perhaps that person will be found close at hand, as Graves was when he was picked by the board in 1978. But when and if Graves leaves, the supervisors should truly look throughout the nation to find the best person.