Hearing Into Allegations Against Dixon Ordered

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday ordered a special hearing into allegations of destruction of documents and other possible improprieties by Chief Administrative Officer Richard Dixon detailed in a highly critical grand jury report.

“These are serious allegations,” said Supervisor Deane Dana. “And, if true, this is most unacceptable behavior for the office of the chief administrative officer. It cannot be left unanswered.”

Supervisor Gloria Molina, the sole board member to call for Dixon’s firing, said, “The grand jury only skimmed the surface. . . . We should . . . order a full-scale audit” of Dixon’s office.

The board voted unanimously to ask representatives of the grand jury and the auditing firm of Price Waterhouse to appear at the special hearing before supervisors July 21, and ordered Dixon to respond to the damaging 36-page report as soon as possible.

Dixon was attending a convention in Florida on Tuesday and was not immediately available to comment on the grand jury findings or the supervisors’ concerns.

But his chief assistant, Mary Jung, suggested that the grand jury may have exaggerated the significance of the destroyed documents. Some records could be reconstructed from other sources, she said.

Molina said she did not want to wait more than a month to hold the special hearings, but July 21 is the first date on which all five supervisors will be in town at the same time. Hecklers in the audience shouted “foot dragging” as the supervisors adopted the July 21 date.

The brewing controversy over Dixon and his far-reaching authority in the county sparked more political fallout Tuesday as Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, a candidate for supervisor in the 2nd District, called for Dixon’s immediate resignation.

Earlier, Burke’s opponent, state Sen. Diane Watson, urged Dixon’s firing. And in another supervisorial race on the November ballot, Rolling Hills Mayor Gordana Swanson also has said she would vote to fire Dixon if elected.

If Swanson defeats Supervisor Deane Dana, there would be enough votes to fire the chief administrative officer. But all three candidates agree that Dixon should not wait to resign and that the board should not wait that long to fire him.

The grand jury report focuses renewed attention on Dixon, who earlier came under fire for what critics called a secretive management style. He also is at the center of a controversy over his role in quietly approving pension rule changes that will cost taxpayers at least $265 million.

In the report released last week, the grand jury said Dixon exercises unchecked control over public funds and has spent millions of dollars without notifying the Board of Supervisors. The audit described Dixon as “among the most powerful public administrators in America,” and it criticized supervisors for giving Dixon open-ended authority and allowing him to operate without sufficient oversight.

Among the report’s most critical findings was that Dixon had discarded virtually all documents related to a controversial $6-million renovation of his offices and spent twice what the board had publicly authorized for furniture. Dixon spent $1.4 million on furniture for his spacious offices in the downtown Hall of Administration.

Auditors said “such a material discrepancy raises unanswered questions concerning overall management” of the program to refurbish the offices. Nearly all financial records of the controversial program were discarded by chief administrative office employees, making it nearly impossible to conduct a thorough review, the auditors said.