Newly elected Los Angeles City Atty. Carmen Trutanich today released his official transition report, and it shows no mercy for his predecessor, Rocky Delgadillo.
Units within the office’s Criminal and Special Litigation Branch were “downright anemic from their lack of resources, staffing, leadership and support," the report concluded. Morale among the unit’s attorneys and other staff also was “very low."
Delgadillo rebuffed that criticism when contacted for a response. He said the overwhelming majority of his budget was devoted to the criminal and special litigation branch, and the attorneys made tremendous gains in cracking down on gang crime in the city and ensuring that public schools were free of violence.
“Clearly, like any prosecutor, I would have liked to have more money, but we were in a budget crisis," Delgadillo said. “We did a lot with the money we had. I’m proud of the work that the attorneys did in the office."
Trutanich, who took office July 1, enlisted a transition team of top attorneys and community members to review the functions of the office and recommend improvements. Their report also included recommendations to increase training for attorneys, hire more investigators and adopt a transparent process for promotions and employee evaluations.
The harshest criticism of Delgadillo’s management related to the public integrity and ethics unit, which has responsibility for investigating allegations of wrongdoing against elected and appointed city officials.
“The city attorney’s office does not appear to currently investigate or prosecute violations of the City Charter related to public integrity,’’ the report states, noting “the absence of any named attorney for this unit and the absence of any specific report concerned the activities of this unit.’’
Officials with the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said the agency’s referrals to the city attorney for possible misdemeanor violations of the City Charter “were apparently not pursued," the report states.
Again, Delgadillo said that criticism was off the mark. He said, in fact, one of his most senior criminal attorneys headed the public integrity unit. Delgadillo added that, in most instances, those cases were referred to either the district attorney or U.S. attorney for prosecution since the city attorney’s office can prosecute only misdemeanors.
Delgadillo served as city attorney for eight years, and was termed out of office in July. He is now a lawyer in the Los Angeles office of Goodwin Procter LLP, and is exploring a possible run for California attorney general.
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Saturday, November 28, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Transition team report details problems at LA City Attorney's office
Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich inherited an office from Rocky Delgadillo that is rife with morale problems and needs a major investment in staff training and other resources, according to a report authored by his transition team.
Trutanich, a Harbor City resident who took office July 1, assembled the team of more than 100 volunteer outside attorneys to examine the agency's operation, identify problems and recommend solutions.
The 156-page report also urges Trutanich to set "big hairy audacious goals" to improve the office, which has 540 attorneys and wide civil and criminal prosecutorial powers.
John Franklin, a spokesman for Trutanich, said the city attorney is combing through the report and its recommendations.
"The city attorney is taking this very seriously and it talks about problems that cannot be fixed overnight or even in six months," Franklin said.
But Franklin said many of the recommendations might have to be delayed because of the city's ongoing financial crisis and the cuts Trutanich must make to his department's $97.8 million budget.
"We are taking an 18 percent hit," Franklin said.
Aides to Delgadillo - who served in the office for eight years and is now eyeing a run for state attorney general in 2010 - said he had not seen the report and had no comment on it.
The committee working in the transition team's law firm management group "was advised repeatedly that morale in the office is low," the document said.
The report said there were a number of reasons for the malaise, including the city's budget problems but also the lack of transparency in promotions, the assignment of cases and the lack of proper equipment.
For example, the department's attorneys have to share 129 outdated BlackBerry devices. There are no laptop computers for the attorneys and, even if they had them, there has been no training in how to best use them in court.
Attorneys now receive little formal training when first hired and have few continuing-education opportunities. Many of the less-experienced attorneys learned on the job what was expected of them, with little correction offered by supervisors.
One of the issues Trutanich campaigned on was creating an Academy of Justice, which would provide training for new attorneys in the office and help keep experienced prosecutors up to date on the latest techniques and laws. The proposal was wholeheartedly embraced by the transition team.
Judges also weighed in on the transition team, saying many of the criminal attorneys came to court in improper attire, were ill-prepared or were forced to delay court proceedings as they checked with superiors on proposed settlements.
At least one political expert said the report was unusual for the extent to which it criticized Trutanich's predecessor.
"Usually when you do have a transition team you never see reports on what they're recommending and usually they are kinder to the person in office," said Bob Stern, president of the Los Angeles-based Center for Governmental Studies.
"But I think this is a good idea and I wish more officials would let us know what they're planning to do once they get in office."
But one of the co-chairs of the transition team, former county District Attorney Robert Philibosian, said the report was not intended to cast blame on Delgadillo.
"This was from people with an unbiased view," Philibosian said. "What this is meant to do is point out what's the current situation, here's some new ideas and here's some innovations that should be looked at."
Jane Usher, a special assistant to Trutanich who served as executive director of the transition team, said many of the issues raised - such as morale and personnel issues - will not require major outlays of funds.
"What we are trying to do is change the culture of the office," Usher said. "That comes from leadership and effective management."
As an example, Usher said criminal attorneys complained about a lack of support to their efforts, with simple things such as having digital cameras to take pictures of evidence or video cameras to record interviews.
Throughout the report, Trutanich is urged to appeal to large law firms in the city to assist with advice on everything from handling cases and training to information technology needs. Also, the report said several firms would provide pro bono help with cases.
"The city attorney should reach out to these resources to form a permanent management advisory group," the report said.
Source
Trutanich, a Harbor City resident who took office July 1, assembled the team of more than 100 volunteer outside attorneys to examine the agency's operation, identify problems and recommend solutions.
The 156-page report also urges Trutanich to set "big hairy audacious goals" to improve the office, which has 540 attorneys and wide civil and criminal prosecutorial powers.
John Franklin, a spokesman for Trutanich, said the city attorney is combing through the report and its recommendations.
"The city attorney is taking this very seriously and it talks about problems that cannot be fixed overnight or even in six months," Franklin said.
But Franklin said many of the recommendations might have to be delayed because of the city's ongoing financial crisis and the cuts Trutanich must make to his department's $97.8 million budget.
"We are taking an 18 percent hit," Franklin said.
Aides to Delgadillo - who served in the office for eight years and is now eyeing a run for state attorney general in 2010 - said he had not seen the report and had no comment on it.
The committee working in the transition team's law firm management group "was advised repeatedly that morale in the office is low," the document said.
The report said there were a number of reasons for the malaise, including the city's budget problems but also the lack of transparency in promotions, the assignment of cases and the lack of proper equipment.
For example, the department's attorneys have to share 129 outdated BlackBerry devices. There are no laptop computers for the attorneys and, even if they had them, there has been no training in how to best use them in court.
Attorneys now receive little formal training when first hired and have few continuing-education opportunities. Many of the less-experienced attorneys learned on the job what was expected of them, with little correction offered by supervisors.
One of the issues Trutanich campaigned on was creating an Academy of Justice, which would provide training for new attorneys in the office and help keep experienced prosecutors up to date on the latest techniques and laws. The proposal was wholeheartedly embraced by the transition team.
Judges also weighed in on the transition team, saying many of the criminal attorneys came to court in improper attire, were ill-prepared or were forced to delay court proceedings as they checked with superiors on proposed settlements.
At least one political expert said the report was unusual for the extent to which it criticized Trutanich's predecessor.
"Usually when you do have a transition team you never see reports on what they're recommending and usually they are kinder to the person in office," said Bob Stern, president of the Los Angeles-based Center for Governmental Studies.
"But I think this is a good idea and I wish more officials would let us know what they're planning to do once they get in office."
But one of the co-chairs of the transition team, former county District Attorney Robert Philibosian, said the report was not intended to cast blame on Delgadillo.
"This was from people with an unbiased view," Philibosian said. "What this is meant to do is point out what's the current situation, here's some new ideas and here's some innovations that should be looked at."
Jane Usher, a special assistant to Trutanich who served as executive director of the transition team, said many of the issues raised - such as morale and personnel issues - will not require major outlays of funds.
"What we are trying to do is change the culture of the office," Usher said. "That comes from leadership and effective management."
As an example, Usher said criminal attorneys complained about a lack of support to their efforts, with simple things such as having digital cameras to take pictures of evidence or video cameras to record interviews.
Throughout the report, Trutanich is urged to appeal to large law firms in the city to assist with advice on everything from handling cases and training to information technology needs. Also, the report said several firms would provide pro bono help with cases.
"The city attorney should reach out to these resources to form a permanent management advisory group," the report said.
Source
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