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The written approval of the chief accounting employee shall be required for the withdrawal of money from any fund of any department created by the Charter under the control and management of a board of commissioners. However, this requirement does not apply to withdrawals made for the purpose of purchases through a centralized City purchasing system.
Subject to the provisions of the Charter, and to any ordinances as are not in conflict with the grants of power made to each department in the Charter:
(a) Management. The head of each department shall have power to supervise, control, regulate and manage the department.
(b) Rules and Regulations. The head of each department shall have the power to make and enforce all rules and regulations necessary for the exercise of the powers conferred upon the department by the Charter. The board of each department under the control and management of a general manager shall have the power to make and enforce all rules and regulations necessary for the exercise of powers and the performance of the duties conferred upon that board by the Charter. Every order or resolution adopting a rule of general application to be followed by the public shall be published once in a daily newspaper and shall take effect upon publication. Those rules, when adopted by order of a general manager who is the head of a department, shall be subject to the approval of the Mayor.
(c) Acquisition of Real Property; Approval of Contracts. Subject to Section 373, any action by a department created in the Charter authorizing the acquisition or sale of real property, approving of contracts which obligate the City for a longer period of time than as provided by ordinance, or which involve consideration reasonably valued in excess of such monetary limitation as provided by ordinance, shall be taken by the head of the department by order or resolution.
(d) Police Power. No grant of power by the Charter to any department or board of City government shall be construed to restrict the power of the Council to enact ordinances under the police power of the City, except as otherwise specifically provided in the Charter.
Other than the elected offices, each department and office established by the Charter or created by ordinance, and each of the Public Works bureaus of Contract Administration, Engineering, Sanitation, Street Lighting, and Street Services shall have a chief administrative officer. In departments under the control and management of a board of commissioners, the chief administrative officer administers the affairs of the department. In departments and offices not under the control and management of a board of commissioners, the chief administrative officer has full charge and control of all work of the department or office. Elsewhere in the Charter and in the Los Angeles Administrative Code, chief administrative officers may have different position titles including general manager and director.
(a) Applicability. Subsections (a) through (e) of this section shall apply to all chief administrative officers, except the Chief of Police, the Executive Officer of the City Ethics Commission, the Executive Director of the Employee Relations Board, the general managers of the Fire and Police Pensions and the Los Angeles City Employees Retirement System, and the general managers of the Proprietary Departments. The following shall also be considered chief administrative officers for the purposes of this section: the Treasurer; the Executive Director of any City commission or agency created by ordinance that performs regulatory functions; and the executive director of all other ordinance created commissions or agencies unless the ordinance creating the commission or agency provides otherwise. The provisions of this section shall not apply to the Chief Legislative Analyst.
(b) Appointment. Each chief administrative officer to whom this section applies shall be appointed by the Mayor, subject to confirmation by the Council. If the Council does not disapprove the appointment within 45 days after its submission to the Council, the appointment shall be deemed approved. The Mayor may, but shall not be required to, use the assistance of the Personnel Department in the recruitment and selection of candidates for appointment. No chief administrative officer appointed under this section shall acquire any property interest in employment in that position.
(c) Temporary Appointments. The Mayor must fill any vacancy in the position of chief administrative officer within ten days of the vacancy. The Mayor may appoint a temporary chief administrative officer for six months, which period may be extended with the consent of Council for an additional six months. If no permanent appointment has been submitted to the Council during the initial or extended period, the temporary appointment shall be deemed submitted as a permanent appointment, and the time period for Council approval or disapproval shall commence as of that date.
(d) Annual Review. The Mayor shall evaluate each chief administrative officer annually. The Mayor shall set or adjust the amount of compensation for the chief administrative officer within the guidelines established by Council, after recommendations concerning those guidelines have been made to the Council by the City Administrative Officer.
(e) Removal. The Mayor may remove, by written notice, the City Clerk and the Treasurer, subject to approval by the Council. The Mayor may remove, by written notice, all other chief administrative officers to whom this section applies without Council confirmation. However, those removals may be appealed to the Council in accordance with this subsection. Within ten calendar days of the removal, the chief administrative officer may appeal the removal to the Council. Within 10 Council meeting days of receipt of the appeal, the Council may reinstate the chief administrative officer by a two-thirds vote of the Council. Failure of the Council to reinstate the chief administrative officer during this time period shall constitute a denial of the appeal.
(f) Chief Administrative Officers Appointed by a Commission. Any chief administrative officer or executive director that is appointed by a Commission pursuant to ordinance shall be annually reviewed by the appointing commission. That commission shall set or adjust the compensation for the chief administrative officer or executive director within the salary guidelines established by Council, after recommendations concerning those guidelines have been made to the Council by the City Administrative Officer. The commission shall forward a copy of the evaluation and salary determination to the Mayor and Council for information.
SECTION HISTORY
Amended by: Subsecs. (d) and (f), Charter Amendment II, approved November 5, 2024, effective January 8, 2025.
Subject to the provisions of the Charter, the rules of the department and the instruction of his or her board, the chief administrative officer of a department or bureau under the control and management of a board of commissioners, except the Police Department, shall:
(a) administer the affairs of the department or bureau as its chief administrative officer;
(b) appoint, discharge, suspend, or transfer the employees of the department or bureau, other than the secretary of the board and the chief accounting employee of the department, all subject to the civil service provisions of the Charter;
(c) issue instructions to employees, in the line of their duties, all subject to the civil service provisions of the Charter;
(d) expend the funds of the department or bureau in accordance with the provisions of the budget appropriations or of appropriations made after adoption of the budget;
(e) recommend to the board of the department prior to the beginning of each fiscal year an annual departmental budget covering the anticipated revenues and expenditures of the department or bureau, conforming so far as practicable to the forms and dates provided in Article III in relation to the general City budget;
(f) certify all expenditures of the department or bureau to the chief accounting employee;
(g) file with the board and the Mayor a written report on the work of the department or bureau on a regular basis and as requested by the Mayor or board; and
(h) exercise any further powers in the administration of the department as may be conferred upon him or her by the board of the department.
Each chief administrative officer who is the head of the department shall:
(a) have full charge and control of all work of the department;
(b) be responsible for the proper administration of its affairs;
(c) appoint, discharge, suspend or transfer all employees of the department, subject to the civil service provisions of the Charter;
(d) issue instructions to employees in the line of their duties, all subject to the civil service provisions of the Charter;
(e) as authorized by ordinance, assign employees of the department as are required for the carrying out of the powers and duties of the board of commissioners, if any;
(f) provide technical assistance and information as requested in writing by the board of commissioners of the department, if any;
(g) prior to the beginning of each fiscal year submit an annual budget covering the anticipated revenues and expenditures of the department, including, pursuant to the instructions of the board of commissioners, if any, the money required for the proper conduct of the board’s affairs;
(h) expend the funds of the department in accordance with the provisions of the budget appropriations or of appropriations made after adoption of the budget, including those appropriated for the board of commissioners, if any;
(i) file with the board and the Mayor a written report on the work of the department on a regular basis and as requested by the Mayor or board; and
(j) exercise any further powers as may be conferred upon him or her.
In addition to the other powers and duties imposed upon them by the Charter, the board of each department having control over its own special funds shall:
(a) provide suitable quarters, equipment and supplies for the department, create the necessary positions in the department, authorize the necessary deputies, assistants and employees and fix their duties, and may require bonds of any or all the department’s employees for the faithful performance of their duties; and
(b) prior to the beginning of each fiscal year, adopt an annual departmental budget and make an annual department budget appropriation, covering the anticipated revenues and expenditures of the department. The departmental budget shall conform as far as practicable, to the forms and times provided in Article III for the general City budget. Each departmental budget shall contain a sum to be known as the Unappropriated Balance, which sum shall be available for appropriation by the board later in the ensuing fiscal year to meet contingencies as they may arise. A copy of the budget when adopted, and of every resolution subsequently adopted making appropriation from the Unappropriated Balance shall promptly be filed with the Mayor and Controller. No expenditure shall be made or financial obligations incurred by the department except as authorized by the annual departmental budget appropriation, or appropriations made after the adoption of the annual budget, or as otherwise provided in the Charter.
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