Reported Plan to ‘Create’ a Job in County Health Dept. Assailed

The Los Angeles County Commission on Alcoholism is raising objections to a plan to create a well-paid supervisorial position in the health department at a time when a hiring freeze and threatened layoffs are plaguing the county work force.

Other county sources said administrators cleared the way for the new job so it could be filled by an acquaintance of Supervisor Ed Edelman.

In a Sept. 22 memorandum to the Board of Supervisors, the commission said it “has heard” that the job is to be given to Edward Eisenstadt, a former executive with the Volunteers of America, and that it will pay $68,000 a year in salaries and benefits. The private memorandum, obtained by The Times, described the position as “special projects” coordinator in the office of alcohol programs, which is administered by the Department of Health Services.

Joe Healy, vice president of programs and marketing for Volunteers of America in Los Angeles, confirmed Friday that Eisenstadt left the nonprofit organization recently and “made it known to us that he was resigning to take a job with the county.” Eisenstadt had served with the nonprofit organization as director of its local alcoholism and residential services division. He could not be reached for comment Friday.

Edelman, in the telephone interview, confirmed that he had recommended Eisenstadt for county employment. He said that Eisenstadt was “no social friend,” although he has known him through Eisenstadt’s work on alcohol programs. But Edelman said he did nothing more than send Eisenstadt’s resume to Chief Administrative Officer Richard B. Dixon for consideration.

Wanted Job With County

“He was interested in seeking employment with the county so I simply referred his resume to the CAO, as I have done in other cases involving qualified people,” Edelman said.

Edelman praised Eisenstadt’s background in alcohol treatment programs and his experience as a former county employee in the health and mental health departments. He blamed “disgruntled employees” for trying to block his return to the agency.

However, the alcohol commission memorandum said that the 13-member body unanimously opposed creating the job, particularly since the health department is contemplating program cuts and layoffs.

“The Commission on Alcoholism strongly recommends that all parties concerned seriously reconsider this action. It does not speak well for the county,” said the memo, which was also addressed to Health Director Robert Gates and Dixon.

The new position as special projects coordinator--paying $53,000 a year in base salary and about 30% in fringe benefits--would make Eisenstadt the third-highest-paid employee in the 60-person office of alcohol programs, according to Betty Porche, chief of the county’s alcohol and drug program administration.

Porche said the job was created by health department officials who maintain there is a need for more supervision of alcohol rehabilitation programs for AIDS patients, minority groups and others who present special treatment problems. The job has not yet been advertised, as normally required under Civil Service rules.

However, when asked by a reporter, Porche said, that the job will be posted in the near future. She said that Eisenstadt has not been hired.

“I am proceeding on the basis that there will be a departmental selection process,” she said. “We will have an examination process, and he will have to compete in that exam.”

Opponents of the appointment, however, say that there is no evidence that the new position is warranted and that the money could have gone to supplement existing programs.

Hiring Freeze

County departments have had a freeze on hiring since last July because of large budget deficit. And in a Sept. 14 memorandum, Gates told board members that “we have now identified 70 to 100 employees” for layoffs if budget cuts force such action.

The department, meanwhile, is working on earmarking more drastic cuts if Proposition 99, the statewide cigarette tax measure, loses in November. County health programs are relying on $41 million in revenues from that measure.