Supervisors to Query Block on Budget Issues

Los Angeles County officials--stung by criticism that their lack of oversight of Sheriff Sherman Block may have jeopardized millions in county funds--said Monday that they will demand answers from the sheriff about whether he is wasting taxpayer dollars.

But some activists said that by merely asking the sheriff to respond to the many potentially expensive problems raised in a series by The Times this week, the supervisors were once again shying away from aggressive action.

“The voters in L.A. County ought to be outraged by this situation,” said Ruth Holton, executive director of California Common Cause. “It’s their tax dollars that are being spent in heaven knows which way, and the Board of Supervisors seems to be extremely complacent about this. The taxpayers ought to hold the supervisors @and the sheriff accountable and demand an [independent] audit.”

All but one county supervisor refused to comment on The Times’ two-part series, which appeared Sunday and Monday. Through an aide, board Chairman Mike Antonovich said he was concerned about the allegations and planned to ask the sheriff today for a report detailing his response.

The Times outlined numerous shortcomings that have put taxpayer money at risk in recent years within the Sheriff’s Department, particularly its jail operation--from the purchase of pricey chicken to the approval of contracts for hundreds of thousands of dollars above what other bidders offered.

“It’s both a fiscal and a management concern,” said Antonovich’s chief deputy, Tom Silver. “And I think the overarching question would be: Has some laxity set in over the years that needs to be addressed through some closer scrutiny?”

Block would not comment on the articles, aides said. But he did call county officials personally to address their concerns. In one call to Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, the sheriff reportedly discussed at length a range of issues regarding his management of the department and safeguards that he said were in place to prevent waste and fraud.

“I told him he needs to make a statement,” Burke said. “He said he plans to do so.”

Meanwhile, Burke said, she and her board colleagues have been “looking at those things set forth in the article. I think we need a more aggressive role.”

Although the supervisors allocate more than $500 million annually to the Sheriff’s Department, they have given Block extraordinary latitude in controlling the department’s finances, rarely challenging him.

Burke said it is too early to call for an audit of the Sheriff’s Department, even though a full review has not been conducted in recent memory. Burke said that should an audit be necessary, she does not want to single out the Sheriff’s Department for more scrutiny than the dozens of other county agencies.

“I have consistently taken the position that all departments should be audited, that there should be a line-item budget and a program budget for all departments,” Burke said.

“I believe we need to get that information,” she said. “I really want to find out what we have within our parameters--what we can change and what we can [only] point out” within the sheriff’s operations.

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But clearly, she said, inmates should not be treated to premium cable movie channels or to violent films on TV, as the series reported, even if those perks are financed by an inmate welfare fund not directly fed by tax dollars. “I think they should get regular TV and that’s it,” Burke said, “and certainly there shouldn’t be violent movies there.”

The supervisor said she was perhaps most concerned about turf wars and other problems between sheriff’s officials and county purchasing agents in the Internal Services Department that apparently have interfered with efficient fiscal operations. “I want to get the details,” Burke said. “I am very concerned about the low bidder [issues]. I think these contracts should go to the low bidder.”

The county’s new chief administrative officer, David Janssen, said he too was concerned about the county’s system of purchasing millions of dollars worth of food and other items for the Sheriff’s Department.

“I think some of the issues raised in the area of purchasing need to be looked at,” Janssen said at his weekly press briefing Monday.