| How many of you have received a $2-million payout from your employer, while you kept doing the job you'd been hired to do? Anyone out there get that windfall, on top of keeping your ongoing annual compensation of, say, $862,000? |
| I'm guessing no one raised their hand. Maybe that's why the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors kept it quiet over the summer when they offered the whopping one-time payment to county Chief Executive Officer Fesia Davenport. |
| Davenport even conceded in a private letter over the summer that the $2-million check was "unprecedented," but fair because she contended her five elected bosses on the Board of Supervisors had wronged her in an unprecedented way. How? |
| By putting a measure on last November's ballot — subsequently approved by voters — that created a new position of elected county chief executive, potentially replacing her appointed job. Though no one directly bad-mouthed her or questioned her competence, Davenport said that the measure implied the county would be better off with an elected CEO and that has damaged her reputation. |
| LAist broke the story about the astounding payment and The Times's Rebecca Ellis has been following up with more details. The settlement agreement was approved behind closed doors and uncovered through a records request by LAist. I wondered if I was missing something, so I called an expert observer of the county's governance, who sounded equally flummoxed. "I can't believe it's that easy for the County of Los Angeles to write a $2-million check to an employee and for them to stay," said the expert, who declined to be named to maintain good relations with county leaders. "It doesn't make any sense!" |
| I've covered local government in L.A. since the 1980s and I can say a few things unequivocally: The proposal to create the position of a county "mayor" — or elected chief executive — has been around for decades and no one in power seemed particularly insulted. And as for large payouts to public officials; they happen fairly often, but typically when people are asked to move along. |
| I spoke to three people familiar with the county's operations for this story and none of them had a bad word to say about Davenport, at least prior to her big payday. They called her capable and easy to work with, adding that the 56-year-old outperformed some of her predecessors. |
| So why does Davenport feel she deserves the $2 million, despite acknowledging in a letter that three of the elected supervisors assured her the bid for an elected chief executive "was not directed at me personally?" Because, she wrote, she had experienced "real life impacts." |
| Part of that impact, she alleged, grew out of the wording of the supervisors' motion to have an elected chief executive. The motion "conflates desired structural changes with the desired attributes of the [elected chief executive] and by implication the undesirable attributes of the current CEO." She added: "Whether this reading is what was intended, people have read the motion in this way." |
| Davenport has spent 26 years working her way up through the county bureaucracy. Among the harms she complained she will suffer is a reduction in her retirement payments if she can't stay in her post past the 2028 start date of an elected chief executive. She has expressed no interest publicly in running for the elected post. She went on a medical leave earlier this month, for undisclosed reasons, and did not respond to a request for comment. |
| The CEO also reminded the county that one of her predecessors had received a $1.5-million payout. But, unlike her, that CEO absorbed political attacks by the county sheriff and subsequently had to field threats from wacko members of the public. And that CEO got the money on her way out. |
| Davenport has suffered nothing like that, at least that has been publicly reported. Now she essentially argues that a change in governance is causing some people to doubt her. It hasn't been made clear who those doubters are. But if county taxpayers didn't have a reason to complain before, it feels like now the CEO has given them one. |
Today's top stories |
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| (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times) |
Wildfire season is back |
- Temperatures are expected to warm up this week for the Los Angeles Basin as the Santa Ana winds head to the region, according to the National Weather Service.
- National Weather Service meteorologist Rose Schoenfeld recommended that those who live in high fire risk areas brush up on evacuation plans and make sure they have a go-bag with essential items as wildfire season approaches.
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The Dodgers won last night |
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A rough few years for Santa Monica |
- Businesses have abandoned its downtown.
- Its retail and office vacancy rates are among the highest in L.A. County.
- The city was forced to declare itself in fiscal distress after paying out $229 million in settlements related to alleged sexual abuse by Eric Uller, a former city dispatcher.
- Now, Santa Monica is trying to plot a new path forward.
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Trump v. California |
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What else is going on |
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Commentary and opinions |
- The NBA's disastrous gambling case was utterly predictable, says columnist Michael Hiltzik. And other pro sports are next.
- Columnist Anita Chabria chronicles America's long, slow slide from 'election integrity' to voter suppression.
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This morning's must reads |
| | | The genre has already notched its highest annual gross of all time. And with 'Sinners,' 'Frankenstein' and more in the awards race, Oscar voters are paying attention too. | | | |
Other must reads |
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| Keep up with California | Your support helps us deliver the news that matters most. Subscribe to the Los Angeles Times. | | | | | |
For your downtime |
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| (Solomon O. Smith/For The Times) |
Going out |
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Staying in |
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A question for you: Share your great Halloween costume ideas! |
| Email us at essentialcalifornia@latimes.com, and your response might appear in the newsletter this week. |
And finally ... your photo of the day |
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| A deadly history haunts this imperiled California lighthouse. But its fans want to save it. (Caleb Lesher / For The Times) |
| Today's great photo is from Caleb Lesher of the St. George Reef lighthouse, a few miles off the coast of Crescent City in Northern California. Find more photos of the glorious lighthouse here. |
Have a great day, from the Essential California team |
| Jim Rainey, staff reporter
Hugo Martín, assistant editor, fast break desk
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew Campa, Sunday writer
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters |
| How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com. Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on latimes.com. |
