Riordan Seeks Czar for Public Works

In a move to reorganize one of the city’s largest and most cumbersome departments, Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan plans to install a general manager to head the powerful Board of Public Works, officials said Tuesday.

The five-member appointed panel oversees the city’s street repairs, tree trimming, sewers and garbage collection, among other operations. Each panel member earns $77,172 annually.

But unlike most city’s departments, the Public Works Department does not have a general manager to oversee its day-to-day operations.

Since Riordan ran for mayor three years ago, he has proposed replacing the board with a general manager in an effort to streamline the department’s operations and save the city up to $1 million annually.

J. P. Ellman, president of the board, told the City Council’s Budget and Finance Committee on Tuesday that Riordan will propose the change in his upcoming annual budget report. But she said it was unclear to her what powers or duties the general manager would have.

What is clear, Ellman said, is that Riordan sees the move as a way to gradually do away with the board.

Riordan’s first attempt to eliminate the board was rebuffed by the City Council, which wanted to study the proposal further. One of the concerns raised was that a general manager of such a huge department would not be as responsive to citizens’ complaints as an appointed board.

After Riordan’s proposal was rejected, the council decided that the entire department--not just its governing board--needed an overhaul. In response, the council established an ad hoc committee to restructure the department and awarded a $208,000 consulting contract to a private firm to find ways to streamline the department.

Noelia Rodriguez, Riordan’s press secretary, said the mayor still wants to pursue his campaign promise to do away with the board, but does not have a specific deadline for doing so.

Under Riordan’s proposal, the city would seek out a person with the qualifications to run the Public Works Department on a day-to-day basis as well as someone who could pursue Riordan’s plan to eliminate the board, Rodriguez said.

Riordan would appoint the person to the panel and instruct the board members to vote the general manager into the president’s post, she said.

The general manager--whose official title would be “professional director”--would answer to the City Council’s Public Works Committee, Rodriguez said. She did not know how much the manager would be paid, she said.

But some members of the Budget and Finance Committee said the proposal still raises many questions. “It’s still kinda mushy,” Councilman Mike Feuer said.

Councilwoman Rita Walters wondered if the new general manager would keep the post beyond the five-year term limit that is imposed on other commission members. “What about providing continuity?” she asked.

Rodriguez agreed that many details about the proposal remained to be answered.