Yes to Job Accountability

It’s not possible to make 100% accurate comparisons between private corporations and public agencies, but one thing is clear: No corporate vice president would or should have the job protections provided by Civil Service rules to top managers in Los Angeles County agencies.

County Measure A, on the March 7 ballot, aims to modestly fix that by removing the very top deputy positions in each department from the Civil Service system, making them directly accountable to department executives. Department heads have been outside Civil Service since 1986, but their top deputies are not. For departments of up to 20,000 employees, like Children and Family Services, that’s ridiculous.

If a new department head is appointed by the Board of Supervisors, he or she needs a few key managers who can be counted on to carry out programs and reforms. Currently, the new executive’s only recourse is to create new positions, because top deputies already in place are entitled to keep their titles and salaries, no matter what they’re assigned to do.

As public agencies struggle to become more responsive, they need flexibility. Civil Service, the set of rules that governs hiring, promotion and firing in public agencies, was intended to make the public work force more professional and less political. But at a certain managerial level, its protections block accountability.

All five county supervisors voted to put County Measure A on the ballot. There is no organized opposition.

Only about 100 positions countywide, with an average salary of more than $100,000, are likely to be covered if Measure A is passed. No current employees would be affected. However, the timing is good because many senior managers will retire soon to take advantage of a generous but expiring pension provision.

Vote yes on Measure A.