Khamis on how to put a stop to endless churn in county government

We asked County Supervisor District 1 candidates to answer the question: If you could go back in time to fix something in gov't, what would it be? Candidate Johnny Khamis explores how to address the management problems in county government. Candidate Sylvia Arenas has not yet replied. To receive daily updates of new Opp Now stories, click here.

Opportunity Now: Let's pretend you could hop in the Wayback Machine and change one single decision made by local government, including SJCC/County Supes/Sheriff. What would it be and why? How will you change the impact of that decision if you're elected?

Johnny Khamis: The county's management system is broken--and it can lead to cost overruns, inaction, and endless churn.

Here's what's going wrong. The county's model relies on elected Supervisors to give direction to county staff (which is headed by CEO Jeff Smith), who runs the county's administrative functions.

Sounds simple enough, but in practice, it can be a mess. Some supervisors can micromanage city staff, piling on more and more work direction--often in direct contradiction to previous orders. For example, Supervisors Ellenberg and Chavez recently pressed staff to re-evaluate the use of the county prison, causing massive delays and a huge increase in the cost of building (see below). Here are three case studies:

* Unspent monies.

According to Supervisors Ellenberg and Lee, $102 million budgeted for mental health services last fiscal cycle did not get spent to help in this crisis. Meanwhile, 188 people have died from overdoses and 106 have died from suicide so far this year.

* Eternally delayed capital projects.

Fourteen years ago--in 2008--the Board of Supervisors approved plans for a replacement jail facility and even secured $80 million in State funding for the project. Subsequent jail plans included state-of-the-art mental health treatments, as well as education, skills training, and re-entry services to help inmates be ready for life outside and decrease their chances of falling back into criminal behavior.

But instead of breaking ground, the project was delayed. And delayed. And delayed. In 2020, the cost estimate to build was $390 million. Just two years later, the new estimate is $667 million--nearly double! And now the Board (minus Supervisors Wasserman and Simitian) has decided to start the planning process all over for the third time.

* Contractor mismanagement.

The new wing of the Valley Medical Center was scheduled to be finished in 2012. But it wasn’t. In 2014, the County acted, suing the contractor over “negligence in project operations.” The result? After the case was reviewed, the County was ordered to pay an additional $85 million to the construction company, after it was revealed that the County had given them no fewer than 850 change orders.

If I could get in the Wayback machine, I would go back to 1975, when the county was amending its charter, and support an ordinance that would require a supermajority vote of the Supervisors to reconsider budget expenditures that have already been studied and approved.

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