Better Chain of Command
James D. Ruth, Orange County’s interim executive officer, has had little trouble filling his weekly office calendar. Figure two hours each for the 17 department heads and top-level managers reporting directly to him, along with a few hours salted away for the occasional crisis, and Ruth’s dance card is filled.
The take-a-number approach to management was no way to run a government or a business, particularly one as large as Orange County. Ruth, a veteran city manager who came to the county from a more streamlined setting in Anaheim City Hall, knew it, and on Tuesday, the county Board of Supervisors adopted a reorganization plan that establishes a more sensible chain of command.
The new reporting structure should make Orange County government more manageable and, arguably, more accountable. Both attributes have been lacking in a county with nearly 18,000 employees, a $4.9-billion budget and more than its share of recent management gaffes.
The new chain of command reflects some of the changes the county grand jury called for in May, including a notable reduction in the number of county executives reporting directly to Ruth. Under the new system, four deputy chief executives will pick up day-to-day management tasks, freeing the county’s top executive to concentrate on strategies needed to fulfill board policies.
The new system should help insulate the county from some of its recent management shocks, including the planning department’s deficit, which last year mushroomed to $8 million before catching anyone’s eye. But the biggest benefit should come during labor negotiations. All but 1,000 of the county’s employees belong to unions, so it stands to reason that contract negotiations have been handled at the highest management level. Yet that has not been the case, according to the county grand jury report (“Who Represents Orange County Taxpayers?”) issued last year.
The grand jury report faulted the county for sticking with a management structure that led to “limited checks and balances” that caused a troubling lack of accountability during labor negotiations. The grand jury determined that many recent county labor agreements were “approved without full understanding of the true and actual financial impact.”
The new reporting arrangement arguably will lead to better disclosure because one of four county deputy executives will oversee labor negotiations and the county’s chief financial officer will weigh in on the economic impact.
What remains to be seen is whether the new organizational chart will help the county’s frustrating search for a successor to Ruth, who took the job on an interim basis. The county is struggling to find a qualified candidate who wants the job and who would win enough board votes to be hired. Now, at least, candidates will know which of those folks lining up outside the chief executive’s office have reason to be there.
