Appointed Charter Panel Tentatively OKs More Power for Mayor

In its first deliberations on the balance of power in city government, the appointed Los Angeles Charter Commission tentatively voted Wednesday to vest more executive power in the hands of the mayor.

The commission reached a consensus to allow the mayor greater control of the bureaucracy by giving him the sole power to fire department heads. Currently the City Council must approve such firings.

The tentative decision by the appointed commission matches one also made last week by the Los Angeles Elected Charter Reform Commission, and would achieve one of Mayor Richard Riordan’s most cherished goals.

The existence of two charter commissions grew out of a dispute between the mayor and council, with the mayor backing an elected panel that can submit its proposals directly to voters. He wanted to avoid reliance on the appointed group that must win council approval prior to a popular vote. The two commissions have decided to try to resolve differences in the hopes of coming up with a single proposal for the April 1999 ballot.

In tentatively deciding to give the mayor more power over top bureaucrats, the appointed panel addressed a question the elected group has not yet taken up by also giving the mayor exclusive power to decide whether department heads deserve merit raises. Under current practices, the mayor shares that decision with the council, creating a situation in which managers have multiple bosses.

In an attempt to achieve limited management flexibility at lower levels, the appointed commission also tentatively voted to retain a charter provision passed by voters in 1996 that allows department heads to fill up to 165 jobs citywide that are exempt from Civil Service protections. The 1996 provision requires a two-step City Council approval of the exempt position and the person who fills it. The appointed charter commission voted Wednesday to streamline that process by allowing the department head to decide who fills the job.

The appointed panel expressed a sentiment to retain the mayorally appointed citizen commissions that oversee city departments. But it suggested those part-time commissions stick to advisory functions and not try to manage departments. Currently, commissions overseeing parks and library departments, for example, approve contracts and concessions.

The appointed charter commission put off dealing with commissions that oversee the city’s airports, harbor and Department of Water and Power. It also postponed a decision on how to revamp council authority to reverse any decision made by the mayorally elected commissions.