In his four years as Los Angeles County sheriff, Lee Baca has closed a jail and bought an airplane. He has delayed the promotions of some high-ranking officers, while at the same time trying to increase his command staff. He has opened a jail for drug and domestic violence offenders but has not allocated the money to finish it.
Baca has launched and protected programs close to his heart, but also has overspent his budget so severely that the county now requires him to submit monthly expenditure reports.
The sheriff, who exceeded his $1.4-billion budget last year by $25 million, is the only county department head on such a watch, and his spending habits have become fodder for his campaign opponents, Sgts. Patrick Gomez and John Stites, both of whom work for the department. March 5 is election day.
Baca said his decisions are deliberate and reflect his determination to move the department in new directions. He said that he takes the budget situation seriously and that he has a much clearer understanding of the department's finances today than he did when he was first elected.
"This is a real learning experience for all of us in the county," Baca said. "I'm very flexible when it comes to balancing a budget based on need. I understand that I can't just barrel on oblivious to the fact that these [are] precious dollars."
Still, his choices have led some county officials and others to question whether he has a clear budget strategy. Instead, those officials say, Baca appears to be making some bold moves while maintaining a host of other, less traditional law enforcement programs. Gomez and Stites have repeatedly said that the first thing they would do upon election is order an audit of department spending.
Operating in an Unusual Financial Environment
The county sheriff operates in an unusual budget environment. He is an elected official, and the county supervisors have no direct authority over him. As a result, he can spend money largely as he pleases, but the board can limit the overall amount provided to the department, giving the supervisors substantial power over the sheriff. In Baca's case, they are using that power to try to change his spending habits.
"We really haven't had a department in the recent past come up this short," said Sharon Bunn, chief deputy in the county's Chief Administrative Office, who formerly worked in the Sheriff's Department budget division. "Everyone is taking this very seriously.... He's got to realize his resources."
