Government’s Lifeblood: Commissions with Clout

Shall ours be a government of the bureaucrats, by the bureaucrats and for the bureaucrats? Or shall representatives of the people regularly check out what the bureaucrats are up to?

Elected officials have their hands full writing our laws, setting policies, adopting budgets and holding occasional oversight hearings. The day-to-day implementation of the duties of departments and bureaus should be that of department heads. However, ongoing oversight should be attended to by appointed commissioners, board and committee members.

These appointees should be selected for their intelligence, integrity and ability. Specific technical expertise is not required. What is needed is a dedication to the public interest and evidence of a willingness to inquire, evaluate and take appropriate action. Too often, however, they are selected because of their willingness to collect campaign contributions and generate public relations for their political benefactors in exchange for an honorific title and proximity to power. Only a few are salaried positions. Many receive modest stipends, but most serve without compensation.

Too often, commissioners become captives of department staffs and know only what department heads want them to know. Conversely, commissioners have been known to ignore conscientious staff members when elected officials intercede in behalf of lobbyists. Sometimes, all too rarely, commissioners exert independent effort to find out what is really going on within their jurisdiction.

Recently, Los Angeles County fire commissioners actually asked firefighters about how commission policies were being implemented. From what they learned, they alleged that the department was mismanaged. The fire chief responded by recommending that the commission be disbanded.

It may well be that these commissioners should be commended and emulated. Reaching down through the bureaucracy to interview the rank and file, without threat of retribution for employees or commissioners, might produce salutary results on a regular basis.

Further, conscientious commissioners can encourage that essential activity--broad citizen participation. If community members know that commissioners are interested in their input, problems may be addressed before they become crises. Commissions can provide an early warning system to alert officials to anticipated needs.

Unfortunately, some bureaucrats and elected officials prefer not to share more of decision-making than they absolutely have to, for whoever decides to whom a contract is awarded is often the recipient of largess or favors from the contractor. Hence commissions, though needed, may not be created, or commissioners may be chosen for their puppetlike dependability.

To get away from an elitist and cliquish commission-selection process, some cities have broadened the process by advertising openings. Citizens are urged to fill out applications indicating their qualifications and experience for the commission on which they seek to serve. Interviews are conducted, and often candidates are selected who otherwise might not have been known to the appointing mayor or city council. With so many citizens to choose from, more people should be given the opportunity to serve. A limit of two terms should be the rule.

Task forces and ad hoc committees also have their place in studying a current problem. But when their work is completed and the groups are disbanded, the responsibility for implementation and oversight needs to be assigned. That’s why such short-term bodies are seldom a substitute for ongoing commissions.

Commissions without adequate staff are seldom able to operate at full potential. To determine whether a given commission is doing its job, annual reports should be required and funds made available to produce them. Los Angeles’ Environmental Quality Board is mandated to produce such reports, but has not done so since 1977. The commission has requested funds to produce the report but received no appropriation. Perhaps to some elected officials the facade of environmental concern is preferable to the publication of a hard-hitting assessment of environmental quality.

Commissions, boards and committees should be the lifeblood of our government at all levels. It’s time for both appointing authorities and appointees with anemia to take the cure.