Rackauckas Seeks Halt to Capizzi Hiring and Promoting

Incoming Dist. Atty. Anthony Rackauckas wants county supervisors to stop outgoing Dist. Atty. Mike Capizzi from hiring more than a dozen new employees and promoting several others before Rackauckas is sworn in on Jan. 4.

The county’s new top prosecutor asked supervisors Tuesday to put the brakes on any personnel changes--including 17 completed hires and another 10 unfilled deputy prosecutor openings--until he’s able to evaluate the office and make his own hiring decisions.

“It’s very unfair to 25 to 30 people to tell them, ‘You may only be here for a few months,’ ” Rackauckas said. “I’m going to be required to reevaluate every one of them. It’s inappropriate for Mike to put these people in that position.”

He said Capizzi has been filling unstaffed positions that he traditionally left open over the years, a tactic that department heads often use for greater flexibility within their annual budgets. When Rackauckas learned of the recent hiring activity, he met with Capizzi to discuss it, but the meeting “went nowhere,” Rackauckas said.

Capizzi said late Tuesday that the turnover rate among his 245 attorneys is about 10%, so he constantly has openings. He said the process of hiring the new employees began in March, and that nine positions were added after July 1 for the new budget year.

The promotions that he recently announced were promised last year, he said.

“We have one of the best offices in this country and we’re not going to let things slide in the next six months,” Capizzi said. “When [Rackauckas] is district attorney, he can do what he wants. Maybe there’s a misunderstanding over when his term begins.”

Jan Walden, assistant county executive officer for human relations, said she couldn’t confirm how many new attorneys have been hired but said there were about 10 unfilled openings.

Board Chairman Jim Silva asked County Counsel Laurence M. Watson to research the board’s authority over district attorney hiring. Watson said later Tuesday that he hasn’t completed his research.

Supervisor Todd Spitzer, a former deputy prosecutor frequently at odds with Capizzi, supported freezing personnel activity within the district attorney’s office and Sheriff’s Department for the next five months.

But he said there probably is little the board can do because the positions already were authorized as part of previous budgets.

The board last month approved the county’s budget for the 1998-99 fiscal year.

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Both of the county’s law-enforcement departments will get new leaders in January: Rackauckas in the district attorney’s office and Sheriff-elect Michael S. Carona will take over from Sheriff Brad Gates. Gates and Capizzi both are leaving after decades of public service; Capizzi made an unsuccessful run in June for the Republican nomination for state attorney general.

“The animosity between the incumbents and the newly elected [officeholders] is quite hostile and it’s going to be a very difficult transition,” Spitzer said, referring to the fact that both Rackauckas and Carona beat management-backed candidates.

“As a board, we need to do what we can to protect the health and welfare of both of these departments,” Spitzer said.

Assistant Sheriff Doug Storm said the Sheriff’s Department’s current hiring is concentrated on new deputies to staff the expanded Theo Lacy Branch Jail in Orange. He said one or two positions are up for promotions but no decisions have been made.

Rackauckas’ appearance Tuesday during the board’s public comments section surprised supervisors. Even Spitzer, who said he was aware of Rackauckas’ concerns, didn’t know that Rackauckas, currently a Superior Court judge, would make his plea publicly.

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At least two other elected officials have used the public comments portion of the weekly board meetings in recent months to raise issues with all five supervisors. Treasurer-Tax Collector John M.W. Moorlach protested the board’s decision to reprimand Assessor Bradley Jacobs; Clerk-Recorder Gary L. Granville brought a budget proposal to the board after he felt it wasn’t being adequately advanced by Chief Executive Officer Jan Mittermeier.

Rackauckas said he chose to bring his concerns to the supervisors because he hasn’t been sworn in and found it the most efficient way of communicating with the board.

“I couldn’t get any cooperation with Mike on this and I owe it to these people to do something,” Rackauckas said. “So I asked the board for help.”

But Rackauckas will have discretion over the new hires, even if every position is filled in the next five months. That’s because all new attorneys are on a one-year probation, meaning they can be terminated at the department’s discretion, Walden said. New promotions are probationary for six months.

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Times staff writer Lorenza Munoz contributed to this report.