County Close to Hiring Top Administrator

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is expected to select a new chief administrative officer--one of the most powerful public administration posts in the nation--within the next week, officials said Tuesday.

After a six-month nationwide search, the board has narrowed the possibilities to one official candidate, Sally Reed, chief administrative officer of Santa Clara County, and one unofficial candidate, acting county CAO Harry Hufford, officials said.

Supervisors interviewed Reed in an hourlong closed session Tuesday afternoon, officials confirmed. Reed, 50, Santa Clara County’s CAO for 11 years, is the only candidate who has been interviewed and no other candidate interviews are scheduled, said Larry Monteilh, executive officer to the board.

But Hufford, 61, remains an unofficial candidate and is said to be the preferred choice of some board members.

Hufford was CAO from 1974 to 1985. He returned as acting CAO at the request of the board in February after the resignation of Richard B. Dixon. After leaving the county in 1985, Hufford worked at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, a powerful downtown law firm.

Hufford has said he would accept the post permanently if asked by the board, but he has not formally applied and has not been part of the search process.

Dixon was forced out after a series of disclosures about questionable spending practices, including his behind-the-scenes approval of a 20% boost in pension benefits for senior county officials.

Board of Supervisors Chairman Ed Edelman said through a spokesman that he expects the board to make a decision next week. The board has scheduled another closed session on the matter for Tuesday afternoon.

Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke said the board will vote next week on whether to hire Reed. If supervisors decide not to hire her, she said, they would ask a board-appointed search committee to suggest someone from a second tier of candidates, launch a new search process or keep Hufford on as acting CAO for several more months.

The chief administrative officer is paid about $200,000 a year in salary and benefits, including a chauffeured bulletproof car. The person who holds the position is “one of the most powerful public administrators in the nation,” according to a county grand jury report issued last year.

The county CAO exercises broad powers to manage a $13.5-billion budget and 84,000 employees--a larger work force than that of most states. He serves at the direction of the board.

The supervisors had been expected to interview at least two other candidates: Merrett Stierheim, CAO of the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Jan Hart, city manager of Dallas. But both asked to be taken out of contention, Monteilh said.

Reed, the only remaining candidate examined by the search committee, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.