INSIDE CITY HALL - When Richard Riordan was elected Mayor of Los Angeles, he let it be known that department heads would not be expected to follow “every inefficient procedural safeguard.”
Then in a move that facilitated rule violations, Riordan handcuffed the Board of Civil Service Commissioners.
Under Riordan’s “new Paradigm,” the following regulations were not always taken seriously. To be perfectly blunt, certain regulations were purposely violated. And that remains the case today.
1.) Civil Service Rule 1.26: “PROBATIONARY PERIOD means the working test period during which an employee is required to demonstrate his/her fitness by the actual performance of the duties and responsibilities of his/her position and during which he/she may be terminated without right of appeal to the Board of Civil Service Commissioners.”
2.) Charter 242(b). “…The duty of the Council and its committees is to become fully informed of the business of the City so as to oversee all the functions of the City government and to report to the Council any information or recommendations necessary to enable the Council to properly legislate…”
3.) Charter Sections 509(b) and 510(c). In most City departments, the Chief Administrative Officer “…shall appoint, discharge, suspend or transfer employees subject to the civil service provisions of the Charter.”
4.) Charter Section 540. “The Personnel Department shall have the power and duty to administer the civil service system in accordance with the civil service provisions of Article X of the Charter and the civil service rules…”
5.) Charter Section 541. “The Board of Civil Service Commissioners shall have the power and duty to make and enforce the civil service rules and to establish and maintain the civil service system in accordance with Article X of the Charter.”
6.) Charter Section 1019(a): Investigation—“The Board shall investigate the enforcement of the civil service provisions of this Article and the civil service rules. All officers of the City shall aid the Board in all proper ways in carrying out the civil service provisions of this Article.”
Obviously, such lawlessness must end. If you agree with me, you may want to contact Mayor Villaraigosa at (213) 978-0600, or by E-mail at [email protected].
(Samuel Sperling is a City Hall watchdog who writes for the Tolucan Times. Check out other writers and reporters … including Greg Crosby … at tolucantimes.info) You can reach Samuel Sperling at: [email protected].) –cw
CityWatch
Vol 11 Issue 10
Pub: Feb 1, 2013