Star Search – How the Tail Wags the OC Dogs
Sort of like the human resources secretary being asked to interview a candidate to replace the CEO!
June 4, 2008
A quick review of the process used by the Orange County Board of Supervisors to select the finalists for the position left vacant by beleaguered Sheriff Michael S. Carona led us to conclude that the board should fire immediately the person(s) responsible for the process: The criteria prepared and used by the search firm clearly shows lack of experience with executive searches, among other things
When we questioned the criteria and the process used, we were told by the County that leadership and technical issues, were addressed in an interview “… conducted by a retired law enforcement officer with Bob Murray and Associates and included the points you noted as missing from the assessment, such as experience with law enforcement organizations similar in size and complexity, as well as familiarity with local law enforcement” The retired law enforcement officer was later identified as Bob Murray and Associates (BMA) Vice President, Regan William.
According to BMA’s website, “Mr. Williams brings 30 years of local government experience to Bob Murray and Associates. Most recently, he worked as a private consultant with Deloitte and Touche on various public sector assignments. Prior to that, he served as Director of Public Safety with the City of Sunnyvale, CA.” - to put it in context, the City of Sunnyvale had a population of 131,760, according to the 2000 Census, whereas the County of Orange had a population of 2,846, 289, according to the same census. Refer to BMA’s website for “current searches” for additional comparisons - Sort of like the human resources secretary being asked to interview a candidate to replace the CEO!
Perhaps in case we wanted to continue looking at the issue, the County was sure to let us know that the “..Board has seen all applications/resumes submitted for the position and chose to endorse the list of nine recommended candidates. The decision for appointing a Sheriff is entirely up to the Board to make”, so we continue to look at the issue. We decided to compare the BMA’s score to the most recent Board of Supervisor’s vote as shown below, where the BMA chart shows the scores given to each candidate, out of 39 points total.
A cursory review of how the supervisors voted, compared to how BMA scored the finalists, leads one to believe the board's assertion: the board will take suggestions under advisement, but will make the final decision on its own.
A closer look shows that BMA’s second choice (refer to chart below), chief Walters, just happens to be the leading candidate to replace Sheriff Carona. Seemingly always straight shooter supervisor Norby casts one vote and calls chief Walters the “best qualified”.
So why does the board think that Hutchens is just as qualified as Walters? Our only conclusion is that the board's last vote provides ample political coverage for all the supervisors with the exception of Norby: Bates can claim that she defended the current organization, but wants change. Moorlach can claim that he defended the gender vote as well as the search firm’s recommendations. Moorlach and Bates can also claim having voted for Martin, knowing Martin will surface again. In all cases, the board can claim that it was the search firm’s fault that Lt. Hunt and chief Anderson rated so low. In the end, it will have been Regan William and Bob Murray & Associates who selected the next Orange County Sheriff, and the board will have clean hands!
Candidate/
Supvervisor
Hunt
Hunter
Hutchens
Adams
Martin
Babka
Beemer
Walters Anderson
Nguyen -
X
X
-
-
-
-
X
-
Moorlach
-
-
X
X
X
-
-
-
-
Bates
-
-
X
-
X
-
-
X
X
Campbell
-
-
X
-
-
-
X
X
-
Norby
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
X
-
Regan Williams and Bob Murray & Associates scores
20
27
25
33
25
25
26
32
28
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