The High Cost of Mediocrity

iAUDIT! - Testifying before a Senate defense committee, George C. Marshall, the Army Chief of Staff during WWII, said "You give a good leader very little, and he will succeed; you give mediocrity a great deal and they will fail".  His words are as relevant to modern Los Angeles as they were more than 80 years ago in Washington DC. 

If the past several weeks hold a lesson for us, it should be that local leadership has failed the community on many fronts and in many ways.  As General Marshall said, the failure is not one of resources, but of ability.  Rather than showing a hint of introspection, the standard answer among leaders to the region’s crises seems to be claiming a lack of resources (money) is the reason for the region’s ills. The deficit of cohesive and focused leadership has been on full display since the Palisades and other fires broke out, but it predates that disaster.  A few examples of L.A.’s disjointed and conflicting leadership include: 

• Mayor Bass’ multiple failures to forcefully address and lead on the Palisades fire.  Her absence from the country despite high wind warnings notwithstanding, her actions have not engendered trust among LA’s residents.  Her press conferences sound more like public relations presentations, punctuated by combative remarks to reporters. Perhaps her years spent in Sacramento and Washington insulated from direct contact with constituents and made her forget the words of legendary House Spraker Tip O’Neill: “All politics is local”. She seems distant and unconnected to the trauma experienced by ordinary citizens. 

• The Fire Department’s executive leadership has offered an array of excuses for its alleged delay in responding to the fire’s initial outbreak.  According to several former high-ranking LAFD officials, the department failed to pre-deploy engines in high-risk areas.  Officials. Including Chief Crowley, claimed pre-deployment was hindered by budget cuts reducing the number of mechanics to keep reserve units ready for action.  However, the LA Times found the majority of reserve units were ready for duty but left uncalled for until the fire was out of control. 

• Sue Pascoe, publisher of Circling the News, has been gathering first-hand accounts from residents who personally experienced delayed response from LAFD units, adding their voices to questions about how the fire was handled in its first critical moments. 

• In early December, the Mayor’s office released a report titled "Delivering Results” that was long on unsubstantiated claims of success in homelessness programs, but short on facts. A day after the press release was issued, a report from the City Controller refuted many of the mayor’s office’s claims. Nevertheless, the Mayor continues to make claims of great strides in reducing homelessness; strides that will get larger now that voters decided to pour even more money into homelessness programming through Measure A. 

• As I wrote last week, LAHSA has joined the Mayor’s office in declaring success despite a lack of verifiable performance.  LAHSA’s press releases made scant reference to a County Auditor report showing its financial practices are woefully inadequate for an agency that pays more than $700 million a year to service providers. 

A key trait of mediocrity is the inability to think outside the status quo. In the face of once-a-century winds and tinder-dry brush, fire officials failed to retain the outgoing shift of fire personnel or place reserve equipment in key areas. Despite damning audits and increasing homelessness, leaders espouse the same Housing First policies that have failed to show substantial progress for 30 years. 

Mediocre leaders use the words of effective leadership but fail to back them up with action.  In his two Pulitzer Prize-winning books, “This Hallowed Ground” and “A Stillness at Appomattox”, historian Bruce Catton wrote of Union generalship during the Civil War. Bold talk was common, but when it came time to act on those words, generals lacked the will until US Grant came on the scene. George McCellan constantly told Lincoln he needed more men.  Joe Hooker had a bold plan but lacked the nerve to carry it out.  Similarly, the city says the only way to end homelessness is to more than double current expenditures.  Government leaders and voters--at least the ones who supported Measure A--seem all too willing to feed nonprofit organizations’ insatiable appetite for more funding while ignoring basic performance metrics. No high-level official has dared to question costly No Barrier/Housing First policies that strand thousands on the streets as they wait for expensive construction projects to be completed. 

A prime example of the cost of mediocrity is LAHSA’s response to the L.A. County Auditor’s report on its financial operations. LAHSA’s management has failed to implement even the most basic financial practices, such as verifying it has valid contracts before paying vendors.  In its response to the audit, LAHSA’s executive management proffered a multitude of excuses but took no responsibility for its problems.  A common theme in the response was staffing shortage and high turnover. This response was ironic on at least two levels.  First, LAHSA has a reputation for underpaying its line staff (like Accounts Payable technicians) while generously compensating its executives.  It is hypocritical to decry staffing shortages while doing virtually nothing to attract and retain qualified staff. 

Second, blaming staffing shortages for fundamental management failures is disingenuous.  Poor leadership is poor leadership regardless of staffing. McClellan would have been a failed general regardless of the number of troops under his command.  As General Marshal said, a true leader can do great things with minimal resources. Like its ever-increasing budget, LAHSA’s staffing has exploded over the past few years; in 2016, the Authority had 213 employees; it now has more than 870, a four-fold increase.  Leaders have chosen to expand executive leadership and external program staff at the expense of support positions.  LAHSA’s financial practices are symptomatic of failed leadership rather than staffing issues. 

Several of my columns have cited reports and audits detailing local government leadership’s failure to manage the homelessness crisis.  Even analysts who support Housing First’s policies have been critical of LAHSA’s (and other agencies’) performance.  In 2021, Ann Oliva, a Visiting Senior Fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities issued a review sponsored by LAHSA itself. Ms. Oliva supports Housing First, but her report detailed LAHSA’s management-level failures.  Among her recommendations were:

• LAHSA should clarify its role in the homelessness continuum of care.  LAHSA has never had a clear mission and seems to waver between being a pass through agency for funding and trying to take a leading role in homelessness response. 

• The report called for eliminating extraneous workgroups that do not support LAHSA’s strategic plan. In 2021, developing a strategic plan was already a three-year-old endeavor.  

• Ms. Oliva noted the institutional barriers across agencies and systems that hinder its performance. 

These issues, and more, should sound familiar to anyone who follows the news about LAHSA. Performance problems and weak management have been called out in reports almost since LAHSA was created in 1993. 

The 2021 report said LAHSA did not—and does not—suffer from a lack of resources.  Measure H has been providing hundreds of millions of dollars to homelessness programs since 2017 and now Measure A will add even more. What LAHSA, and regional homelessness program in general suffer from is a lack of dynamic leadership. Mediocrity breeds mediocrity.  Mediocre leaders tend to support others who share that weakness.  On the other hand, true leaders are seen as a threat because they don’t accept the status quo.  They do more than vague terms like “bold action” and “linking arms”.  They speak the language of performance and results, and their behavior reflects that language. Mediocrity withers in the face of real leadership. 

General Marshal’s testimony to the Senate committee came as he was challenging the Army’s age-old practice of promoting officers based on seniority instead of performance.  His belief that promotion should be tied to ability was a threat to the status quo.  As it turned out, his efforts we remarkably well-timed.  His testimony was in early 1941, as the country’s defense spending was ramping up due to the war in Europe and the threat from Japan. Had he not demanded changes in leadership before war broke out, things may have gone much worse for the United States.  We need that kind of bold vision and commitment to real change in Los Angeles. 

It is, of course, easy to blame Mayor Bass and other leaders for their failures in the face of recent events.  But that is too simple.  Bass, some members of the County Board of Supervisors, and LAHSA’s leadership are merely the most recent manifestations of systemic failure reaching back decades. Angelenos are living in a political structure designed to maintain the status quo and promote mediocrity.  Therefore, we should not be surprised that’s what we get. Until we demand better, we’ll continue to get the same thing.

(Tim Campbell is a resident of Westchester who spent a career in the public service and managed a municipal performance audit program.  He focuses on outcomes instead of process in his iAUDIT! column for CityWatchLA.)