William Ouchi

In the most dramatic shake-up of his year-old administration, Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan on Thursday ousted a career bureaucrat as his chief of staff and replaced him with a UCLA management guru eager to restructure the City Hall bureaucracy. William R. McCarley, a 29-year City Hall veteran, will leave as top aide to Riordan to take over as head of the Department of Water and Power.

He has never been elected to public office and he holds no official title in state government. But UCLA management professor William G. Ouchi is emerging as a pivotal figure in the future of California public education. Ouchi has teamed up with his golfing buddy and former City Hall boss, state Education Secretary Richard Riordan, in a quest to reinvent the state's 8,000 schools. Riordan is the official face of this two-man offensive, the connection to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

He has never been elected to public office and he holds no official title in state government. But UCLA management professor William G. Ouchi is emerging as a pivotal figure in the future of California public education. Ouchi has teamed up with his golfing buddy and former City Hall boss, state Education Secretary Richard Riordan, in a quest to reinvent the state's 8,000 schools. Riordan is the official face of this two-man offensive, the connection to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The leading candidates in California's recall election spent relatively little time talking about education -- just a quick line here boasting of rising test scores or a pledge there to improve faulty performance. That is understandable, if gutless. The problems of primary and secondary education, on which California spends $53 billion a year, are far too knotty for campaign bromides.

The city Ethics Commission will decide in a few days whether it sees potential conflict-of-interest problems with an unusual arrangement designed to pay Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan's chief of staff mainly with private funds. The mayor's office has asked for the city commission's opinion on the arrangement, which the state Fair Political Practices Commission has already determined to be lawful.

The City Ethics Commission has no objections to an unusual arrangement in which private funds will be used to pay most of the salary of Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan's chief of staff. Noting that the state Fair Political Practices Commission has already approved the payment plan, Ethics Commission Director Benjamin Bycel recommended in a letter made public Monday that "to forestall any perceived conflict of interest problems," neither Riordan nor his chief of staff, William G.

The experiment is over. William Ouchi has left his post as chief of staff to Mayor Richard Riordan to return to UCLA's Anderson School of Management, where he is a professor of policy and organization. "I'm very glad I did it," Ouchi said last week of his two years at City Hall. "I learned a tremendous amount. I knew nothing about government."

Two years into his first term, Richard Riordan has assembled an inner circle of prominent players from the worlds of law, commerce and academia--backed by a supporting cast of well-placed insiders who know their way around the Spring Street Establishment. Top billing goes to three: * Bill Wardlaw. His name can't be found on the City Hall payroll. But if there is an indespensable player on Team Riordan, it is this publicity-shy 48-year-old attorney.

Los Angeles school officials on Thursday announced the appointment of an interim financial team that will be responsible for restructuring the district's murky budget process so that Board of Education members and parents alike can see where the money comes from and where it goes. Joseph P. Zeronian, a former business manager in the Pasadena and La Canada school districts and now an investment executive, will head the team as interim chief financial officer.

The leading candidates in California's recall election spent relatively little time talking about education -- just a quick line here boasting of rising test scores or a pledge there to improve faulty performance. That is understandable, if gutless. The problems of primary and secondary education, on which California spends $53 billion a year, are far too knotty for campaign bromides.

Los Angeles school officials on Thursday announced the appointment of an interim financial team that will be responsible for restructuring the district's murky budget process so that Board of Education members and parents alike can see where the money comes from and where it goes. Joseph P. Zeronian, a former business manager in the Pasadena and La Canada school districts and now an investment executive, will head the team as interim chief financial officer.

Business professor and informal mayoral advisor William G. Ouchi took over the chairmanship of LEARN on Wednesday from the group's founding chairman, Robert E. Wycoff, and signaled a shift in the group's role in local school reform.

The experiment is over. William Ouchi has left his post as chief of staff to Mayor Richard Riordan to return to UCLA's Anderson School of Management, where he is a professor of policy and organization. "I'm very glad I did it," Ouchi said last week of his two years at City Hall. "I learned a tremendous amount. I knew nothing about government."

William G. Ouchi, the acclaimed UCLA management professor who became business-oriented Mayor Richard Riordan's chief of staff, will leave Friday to return to his university duties, the mayor's office said Wednesday. Deputy Mayor Robin Kramer, a former council aide and lobbyist with a reputation for strong people skills, will take over the job of the sometimes controversial Ouchi, effective Monday.

Two years into his first term, Richard Riordan has assembled an inner circle of prominent players from the worlds of law, commerce and academia--backed by a supporting cast of well-placed insiders who know their way around the Spring Street Establishment. Top billing goes to three: * Bill Wardlaw. His name can't be found on the City Hall payroll. But if there is an indespensable player on Team Riordan, it is this publicity-shy 48-year-old attorney.

The City Ethics Commission has no objections to an unusual arrangement in which private funds will be used to pay most of the salary of Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan's chief of staff. Noting that the state Fair Political Practices Commission has already approved the payment plan, Ethics Commission Director Benjamin Bycel recommended in a letter made public Monday that "to forestall any perceived conflict of interest problems," neither Riordan nor his chief of staff, William G.

Business professor and informal mayoral advisor William G. Ouchi took over the chairmanship of LEARN on Wednesday from the group's founding chairman, Robert E. Wycoff, and signaled a shift in the group's role in local school reform.

William G. Ouchi, the acclaimed UCLA management professor who became business-oriented Mayor Richard Riordan's chief of staff, will leave Friday to return to his university duties, the mayor's office said Wednesday. Deputy Mayor Robin Kramer, a former council aide and lobbyist with a reputation for strong people skills, will take over the job of the sometimes controversial Ouchi, effective Monday.

The city Ethics Commission will decide in a few days whether it sees potential conflict-of-interest problems with an unusual arrangement designed to pay Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan's chief of staff mainly with private funds. The mayor's office has asked for the city commission's opinion on the arrangement, which the state Fair Political Practices Commission has already determined to be lawful.

An unusual arrangement devised to pay Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan's chief of staff mainly with private funds has been approved by state officials and awaits a second test by city ethics officials today. Documents filed in support of the novel compensation package for William G. Ouchi show him spending 80% of his time on research and only 15% running the mayor's office.