Orange County’s CEO Frank Kim is ready to dust off and wax up his old surfboard – with a pending retirement scheduled for the week after Fourth of July.
Yet with just under three weeks left to go on his tenure, there’s no replacement.
No trained chief executive ready to take over the reigns of one of America’s largest and most complex county governments with an annual budget surpassing $9.5 billion.
This is a tough gig – arguably the premier public policy job in America – as Orange County covers a large, diverse and prosperous region that could develop government policies inspiring change all over.
But any potential CEO also has to wrestle with working for five elected supervisors who could decide their future at any given moment.
Officials had plenty of time to find someone qualified to run the county’s top executive position.
Note that Kim gave county supervisors his retirement notice more than seven months ago.
[Read: Orange County CEO Announces Abrupt Retirement]
While there have reportedly been some internal candidates reviewed, along with several professionally vetted outside prospects, there is no current consensus choice.
Meanwhile, Chief Financial Officer Michelle Aguirre, who like Kim before her, is well regarded for her command of the $9.5 billion budget, reportedly refused to take over the helm.
Reportedly, not many internal county candidates applied for the job despite the pay bump and big title.
Is the Hiring Process Getting Political?
Most recently, there are indications that what began as a professional process to replace Kim has become politicized and riddled with leaks.
To date, county supervisors have been unable to reach a consensus on candidates produced as a part of an ad hoc committee led by Orange County Board of Supervisors’ Chairman Don Wagner and Supervisor Katrina Foley.
According to numerous sources, the latest potential candidate slated to be interviewed today manages a comparatively small special district budget in Orange County.
They’re being supported by outgoing Supervisor Andrew Do, who has spent the last six months of his tenure mired in controversy, along with the leadership of the Orange County Employees Association, who’ve reportedly called multiple county supervisors pushing their candidate.
When asked about the process, OCEA General Manager Charles Barfield declined to comment.
Supervisors Do, Foley and Chafee also didn’t return texts seeking comment.
County Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento took a call, saying “I’ve always tried to respect the process when there’s been an Ad Hoc to do the vetting,” noting that he would await potential candidates recommended by that process.
Sarmiento declined to comment on details of the recruitment, but did confirm that to date, “I don’t think there’s been a consensus candidate.”
Supervisors’ Chairman Wagner declined comment on the process via text but did confirm that supervisors would be holding interviews today, doubting that the board would come out with a consensus candidate.
“There is more work to do,” texted Wagner, adding that his goal is to lead a process that produces a chief executive with a unanimous board of supervisors supporting them.
Finding a CEO Has Always Been Tough for OC Supervisors
Start with the fact that OC Supervisors like the sound of the term Chief Executive Officer, but really want a Chief Administrative Officer.
A CEO is granted the authority to professionally manage the county’s vast $9.5 billion health and human services bureaucracy, along with issues like land use and public works.
The Sheriff and the District Attorney – both elected officials – largely manage the other side of the county budget.
A CAO administers the county budget in conjunction with a governing board.
Orange County likes the term CEO, but doesn’t like that kind of professional government to reign, historically preferring a more politicized bureaucracy – especially in the executive ranks.
In many ways, you can see how well that’s turned out.
Now that there is a CEO opening, there apparently isn’t one second-tier executive that has been developed in the ranks that the board of supervisors has faith in to administer the county budget.
This is what’s left of the politicized carcass once known as the county government.
Frank Kim was an outlier as a budget analyst who followed former CEO Mike Giancola, who lacked critical educational and management experience when he was put in the role by a politicized process led by county supervisors.
Giancola followed former CEO Tom Mauk – a former city manager who administered the county for a number of years while also working with county supervisors’ political demands.
[Read: County CEO Tom Mauk Resigns]
The last strong CEO I saw – and I’ve been observing OC county government continually since 2004 – was Jim Ruth, a former Anaheim city manager, who took over as an interim in the wake of the 1994 bankruptcy after several embattled CEOs.
Moving forward, perhaps the job search should become more public – despite the challenges to candidates vying for OC’s top spot.
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