County Eyes Ballot Measure To Create Powerful Executive.

L.A. County voters may face an initiative on the November ballot that would make even more profound changes than the city charter approved last year by city of L.A. residents.

The initiative would create the position of an elected county executive with the powers of a big-city mayor, including veto power over the county budget and the power to hire and fire department heads. While the measure may be overshadowed by a companion initiative to expand the board of supervisors from five to nine members, it has the potential to be more far-reaching.

"It's a fundamental change; more of a change than all of the changes in the city charter combined," said Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who proposed the initiative. "For the first time, you will have one executive elected by the entire county. It would get away from the district-by-district territorialism that we see in county government now."

But before the draft initiative can get onto the ballot, the five-member board of supervisors must approve it. Even then, there's no assurance voters would pass the measure. It would appear on the ballot next to the more-controversial effort to expand the board. While it can pass on its own, voters might just say no to both measures on the grounds that they would add costs.

"The power to hire and fire managers will be controversial," said Xandra Kayden, president of the L.A. chapter of the League of Women Voters, who was a member of the city's Appointed Charter Reform Commission. "The presumption is that giving someone the power to hire and fire unilaterally could lead to corruption, as it did in the Frank Shaw administration in L.A. and in Eastern cities 100 years ago."

This is the same issue that tied up negotiations over charter reform early last year. That stalemate was broken by a compromise requiring a two-thirds override vote on the City Council before a mayoral decision to fire a department head could be overturned. A similar two-thirds clause has been inserted in Yaroslavsky's proposal.

Also, there may be some opposition from county employees wary of too much power being concentrated in a single person's hands. So far, though, the main concern of Service Employees International Union Local 660, which represents 45,000 county employees, is that an elected county executive might be beholden to powerful local business interests.

Yaroslavsky says that a county with 10 million people needs a stronger executive branch with an elected official at the helm.

"We are the size of Michigan. You would never ask Michigan to run its state without an elected executive. Right now, we have every decision made by a committee of five (supervisors). It's like the Politburo in the old Soviet Union."

Yaroslavsky's name has been bandied about as a possible candidate for the post he is creating, especially because he has been so hesitant about committing to a race for L.A. mayor. But he said he has not considered whether to run for the county post.

Whether or not Yaroslavsky runs, the job is likely to draw many local politicians.

"Term limits will undoubtedly be a big factor in who decides to run for this post," Kayden said. "As long as there are no term limits for county supervisors, it would be the only prominent county-level position besides district attorney that would carry some appeal."