Seize the Opportunity in Dixon’s Departure : Government: County residents should put reforms in place, including creation of an elective executive.

Chief Administrative Officer Richard Dixon is not the problem with Los Angeles County government. We, the voters, are.

After the release of a critical Grand Jury report alleging improper and excessive use of public funds, primarily for the refurbishing of his suite of offices, Dixon announced that he would resign.

While his conduct has sparked legitimate controversy and concern, do not think for a moment that the problems of Los Angeles County government will be solved by his departure. The issues at stake strike at the heart of the structure of county government, and Dixon’s exit will create a special rationale and opportunity for its necessary and timely reform.

In the last 20 years, many of the most highly respected civic organizations in our community have called for systemic change in county government. The League of Women Voters, the Los Angeles County Bar Assn., an independent Haynes Foundation-funded study and even the county’s own economy and efficiency commission have supported the creation of an elected county executive and the expansion of the Board of Supervisors. These proposals were last put on the ballot in 1978 and lost narrowly.

The reforms will be on the ballot again this November, and it is important for the public to understand how vital they are for the efficiency of county government.

At present, the county is governed by a panel of five supervisors, each of whom is endowed by the County Charter with executive, legislative and quasi-judicial powers. Over time, not surprisingly, each supervisorial district has become a fiefdom. Well-intentioned when it was established in the early years of this century, this arrangement makes no sense as we enter the 21st Century.

Today, Los Angeles County has 9 million residents. Each supervisorial district is more populous than nearly 20 states. Moreover, each supervisor, in a sense, has more power than our President and governor, who must answer to the checks-and-balances offered by Congress and the state Legislature. As remote and as unaccountable as the omnipotent board has become, all of us must depend on the county government for safety, health care and other essential services.

Under the proposed reforms, the structure of county government would mirror the checks and balances characteristic of all other levels of government in our democracy, with the Board of Supervisors setting legislative policy and with an executive branch headed by an elected official responsible for its implementation.

The county has simply gotten too big, its government too large and the matrix of services too complex to deliver without having the administrative responsibility for the $12-billion budget vested in one accountable elected public official.

The public is justifiably angry with the inadequate delivery of public services at all levels of government. This year, more than ever before, we are holding our officials’ feet to the fire to ensure that our tax dollars are spent wisely and prudently. The establishment of an elected county executive would leave no doubt as to who is in charge--and who his or her bosses are: all 9 million of us.

Critics of these reforms argued in the 1970s and will argue again this fall that we don’t need another layer of county bureaucracy. The truth is that we can have an accountable elected county executive and an enlarged and more diverse Board of Supervisors with the redeployment of existing professional staff and without significant new hiring.

And, finally, Los Angeles County would be able to offer one spokesman for our interests in Sacramento and Washington. The elected county executive would be in the best position to make use of our state’s substantial resources and officeholders to ensure that our area’s concerns are fully addressed at all levels of government.

The opportunity and responsibility lies with us, the voters of Los Angeles County. We have to take matters into our own hands, to stand up to the status quo and take back our county government.