QUICK THOUGHT-The Los Angeles Fire Commission just adopted new rules to try and prevent nepotism in the Fire Department.
Concern was triggered when it was realized that 30% of the recruits in the new training class had relatives working for the department.
And all this at a time when the department is still trying to improve its diversity profile.
Commissioner Jimmie Woods-Gray was quoted in the LA Times as having said, "These are common-sense things people should be doing anyway."
She’s absolutely right, and that raises several questions.
Was the Fire Department the first city agency to address this issue?
If it wasn’t the first, was it aware of similar policies in other departments?
Why doesn’t this policy apply to all city agencies?
Why didn’t someone (the mayor, the general manager, the commission, or the city council) realize long ago that nepotism could possibly be a problem?
Is anyone sitting down with the general managers of city departments and making a list of other possible problems and scandals that should be dealt with now?
(Greg Nelson is a former general manager of the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment, was instrumental in the creation of the LA Neighborhood Council System, served as chief of staff for former LA City Councilman Joel Wachs … and occasionally writes for CityWatch. He can be reached at[email protected])
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