The $399 K man

Despite concerns the system would bring back the days of "backroom deals," Los Angeles County supervisors voted Tuesday to grant vast new authority to CAO David Janssen and to give him a whopping pay raise from $242,116 to as much as $399,000 a year, staff writer Troy Anderson
reports in today's Daily News.

Under the $1.7 million reorganization approved 4-1 by the board, Janssen's title will be changed to chief executive officer, and he'll have five deputy CEOs who will oversee clusters of departments. On July 1, department heads will begin reporting directly to Janssen rather than taking orders from the supervisors.It was less than a year ago that Janssen had submitted his retirement, agreeing to come back only after supervisors promised to increase his power.

The supervisors plan to ask voters next year to approve the reorganization as part of the County Charter.
Advocates said the plan would allow the supervisors to hold one person accountable for fixing many of the county's problems.

" This plan has a lot of promise," Supervisor Gloria Molina said. "That doesn't mean there aren't things I worry about. This is a very big and bold step. But it makes me nervous and I know I'm not the only board member who is nervous about putting this in the charter and not being able to go back later and change it."

At Tuesday's meeting, advocates for open government and Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich
blasted the proposal, saying the new structure would allow many decisions to be made behind closed doors.
"Our chief administrative officer stated that the new governance will be `better' because policy discussions will be exempt from the Brown Act," Antonovich said. "This is a step backward toward the old days of backroom deals and catering to an all-powerful bureaucrat."