County Adopts Merit Pay Plan for Executives

A plan to base the pay raises of Los Angeles County executives purely on performance was approved Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors.

Beginning Jan. 1, about 400 senior managers will be given year-end raises only if they reach or surpass specific goals set by them and their superiors. They will no longer be guaranteed periodic Civil Service increases.

Biggest raises would go to those who most exceed the goals. Those who do not meet the mark will get no more money, although they will continue to have Civil Service protection against dismissal.

County Administrative Officer James C. Hankla said that if this first phase is successful, the incentive plan will eventually be extended to all county executives.

He said it is not possible to determine the cost until the supervisors spell out guidelines next month. At that time, he said, the supervisors will decide upper limits for raises for the first executives in the program.

At the insistence of Supervisor Ed Edeleman, the board gave executives a chance to appeal supervisors’ decisions “if there is a gross miscarriage.” Appeals would be made to the county administrative officer.

Hankla, in a memo to the board, said a survey by his office of 20 local governments with similar incentive systems had found that employees are motivated to become more productive.

In addition, he said, the system is considered fair and it “increases communication between managers and subordinates.”

The measure was passed 5 to 0, with little debate--a surprise considering the controversial roots of the proposal.

It had been part of Proposition A, a county ballot measure defeated at the polls last June that would have taken away Civil Service job protection for top county managers and placed them on the merit raise plan.

Hankla was the author of Proposition A and after it lost, he sought to salvage what he could of the proposal by placing the present incentive plan before the supervisors.

The County Charter allows the supervisors to institute merit pay raises, but a popular vote is required to remove Civil Service protection.

The disappointment of the ballot defeat remained, however, and Hankla, who had fought hard for more control over managers in the huge county bureaucracy, decided to quit and accept a job as city manager of Long Beach.

He will be replaced on March 1 by Richard B. Dixon.