| There are four general types of commissions with widely different duties and responsibilities. These are outlined in Article V of the City Charter. The Board of Public Works is the only full-time, paid commission in the City of Los Angeles. The Board is the head of the Department of Public Works and operates both as commission and head of the Department. Each Bureau Head, however, is a chief administrative officer and appointing authority for his or her bureau. Bureau Heads are appointed and removed by the Mayor, confirmed by City Council, and are General Managers in their own right.
The commission was originally created so that the citizens of the City of Los Angeles could, through the Board, have immediate, protective, investigatory control over the daily operations and activities of the Department of Public Works. This is one of the key reasons it exists today. However, the Board provides far more reaching responsibilities than those described in the City Charter. Because the Board reflects the diversity of the City, decisions are reached with due consideration of all factors of society.
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