Anxiety Prevalent in D.A.’s Office

In a study to address sagging morale, a Los Angeles consulting firm has found chronic problems in the Ventura County district attorney’s office stemming from low pay, constant pressure to perform and some managers whose style causes workers to fear for their jobs.

“Many people in the district attorney’s office feel undervalued both as professionals and as human beings,” Strategic Business Ethics reported in a 17-page summary after interviews with dozens of workers in April.

The study’s results and proposed strategies to improve morale will be presented to all 600 workers in the prosecutor’s office during the next three days in a series of confidential seminars.

“There was no direct intimidation that we could identify,” consultant David Lapin said in an interview Tuesday. “But people did say they felt unable at times to frankly speak with their bosses. There was a sense that it could impact on their careers. There was an intensity of management style, and not always the highest level of diplomacy. But that was not widespread.”

Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury, in fact, scored high among subordinates who know him, Lapin said. The anxiety among lower-ranking lawyers out of direct contact with Bradbury often came instead from a constant fear of failure, Lapin said.

“Among attorneys, the consequence of error is high,” he said. “And especially when dealing with a crowd of lawyers, where the environment is very competitive, there is high fear of error.”

But while some lawyers and other employees fear some of their bosses in the Ventura prosecutor’s office, that is not unusual among law enforcement groups, Lapin said.

“I don’t think they’re any worse there than police agencies we’ve dealt with,” said Lapin, also a consultant for the Los Angeles Police Department. “And what impressed us here is that the leadership felt the problem was worth addressing.”

Lapin said he thinks Bradbury is the first district attorney in California to take on such examination of his department.

Greg Totten, chief assistant to Bradbury, said he contacted Lapin’s group last fall because the district attorney knew his fast-growing office was experiencing growing pains and drooping morale.

Twenty-six prosecutors have left the 110-lawyer office in the past two years, most citing bad pay compared with other Southern California counties and even compared with civil lawyers working for this county.

But the problems extended beyond pay, Totten said.

“I think what their research disclosed is that people are fearful of making mistakes and suffering some kind of retribution in the office,” he said. “And that’s something the district attorney wanted to deal with. The issue of fear was discussed, and we’re trying to deal with that in a way that helps our staff members.”

Following four focus group meetings involving about 60 people in April, about 25 managers and selected staff members--clerks, investigators and lawyers--met for a two-day retreat in Camarillo last month to discuss the lessons of the survey.

Smaller groups have met since then to look at specific areas of controversy, such as preparation of employee performance reviews and how internal affairs inquiries are conducted.

Totten said the ongoing meetings are intended to help set the future direction of a department that has grown from 337 employees working in one location in 1989 to nearly 600 employees at four locations today.

“This is an effort to move forward and address these internal morale issues in terms of how we treat people,” he said. “We need to treat mistakes more as a vehicle for learning rather than [employees] suffering a consequence.”

Staff members said Tuesday that they will wait and see how it all works out. Two cited the abrupt, unexplained firing of a respected criminal felony lawyer a couple of months ago as one example of management action that had a chilling effect on the office.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Terry Kilbride said he gives Bradbury high marks for trying to make improvements.

“I appreciate that they’ve put up with the flak and the collective anger of all these people with problems--or perceived problems--and are now sitting down and trying to do something about it,” Kilbride said. “There are big problems, yes, but they’re trying to deal with them.”