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# The Horrendous Cost of Mismanaging LA’s $4 Billion Workforce
April 25 2013
Written by Samuel Sperling.
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INSIDE CITY HALL - If you think you’re paying more than you should for City services, you may want to give the Mayor’s Office a jingle.
Consider this pie chart. It shows that the current City budget authorizes the expenditure of over 7 billion dollars. It also shows that about 60% of that amount goes to support employees.
These are huge expenditures. They must be controlled. A major part of the problem is the fact that City employees are not well-managed. Typically, they are hired on the basis of invalid employment tests. The skills, initiative and energy they bring to the job are not fully utilized. And their job performance is rated by a curious process the courts have consistently rejected.
In City government, employees are pretty much taken for granted. They work up to, or downto, the expectations of their supervisors. But many of them could handle, and would welcome, a chance to do more challenging work.
Mismanaging employees means that 60% of the City budget is mismanaged. It means our tax dollars are wasted. And it means we pay more than we should for the City services we get.
That’s why I’m asking for your support in raising the quality of human resource management in City departments. You could provide that support—and do yourself a favor--by sharing your concerns with the Mayor. His No. is (213) 978-0600, and his Email address [is mayor@lacity.org](mailto:is%20%20mayor@lacity.org).
Our Mayor needs to hear from us--both of us!
*(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](http://tolucantimes.info)) You can reach Samuel Sperling at: .)* –cw
CityWatch
Vol 11 Issue 34
Pub: Apr 26, 2013
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