Los Angeles County Municipal Code Part 2 Public Suggestion Award Program

Pursuant to Section 26208 of the Government Code, there is created a public suggestion award program, hereinafter referred to in Part 2 of this chapter as "program."

(Ord. 11014 § 1 (part), 1974: Ord. 4099 Art. 105 § 20301, 1942.)

A.

A "public suggestion" is a constructive proposal, submitted by a person eligible to participate in the program, for a new procedure or a change in existing procedure in the operation of a county department which the board of supervisors determines, in its discretion, has resulted or will reasonably result in significant financial savings to the county.

B.

All suggestions, with the exception of those in Section 5.60.300, which accomplish or tend to accomplish any of the following objectives shall be considered "suggestions" within the meaning of Part 2 of this chapter:

The saving of time, labor, space, material or supplies;

The improvement of service to the public;

The improvement of methods and procedures resulting in increased output or efficiency, or both;

The improvement of safety conditions;

The improvement of tools and equipment;

The elimination of unnecessary procedures, records and forms.

(Ord. 11014 § 1 (part), 1974: Ord. 4099 Art. 105 § 20302, 1942.)

Any person who is not an individual described in Section 5.60.040 of Part 1 of this chapter or a member of a class listed in said section shall be eligible to participate in the program, either by submitting a public suggestion by himself, by submitting a public suggestion jointly with another such person or persons, or by submitting a public suggestion jointly with a member or members of a class permitted by Section 5.60.040 to receive cash awards under the suggestion award plan for public employees. A member of an eligible class listed in Section 5.60.040 shall only be eligible to participate in this program if he submits a public suggestion jointly with a person or persons not described or listed in Section 4.60.040.

(Ord. 11014 § 1 (part), 1974: Ord. 4099 Art. 105 § 20303, 1942.)

The following are not public suggestions eligible to be considered for awards under the program:

A.

Propositions which call attention to a problem but do not suggest a solution;

B.

Suggestions dealing with normal maintenance, unless such suggestions contribute to a solution of maintenance problems which would reasonably result in a financial savings to the county;

C.

Suggestions dealing with salary adjustments and job classifications;

D.

Suggestions not original with the person or persons submitting them, or which are submitted for other persons who would be ineligible to participate in the program;

E.

Suggestions which are basically duplicates of suggestions submitted within the preceding 24-month period;

F.

Suggestions to implement an existing or newly adopted statute, constitutional provision, or Charter provision;

G.

Suggestions to comply with or otherwise implement a court decision;

H.

Ideas or proposals already under consideration or in the process of implementation by the county, including, but not limited to, suggestions received under the employee suggestion award plan;

I.

Suggestions which contain only general ideas or information or which merely state the obvious;

J.

Suggestions which, while otherwise eligible, are deemed by the chief administrative officer, or in case of an appeal from his decision, by the board of supervisors in its sole discretion, to be frivolous, impracticable or inconsequential in character.

(Ord. 11014 § 1 (part), 1974: Ord. 4099 Art. 105 § 20304, 1942.)

A cash award may be made for a public suggestion only if the board of supervisors in its sole discretion determines that such suggestion has resulted, or will reasonably result, in significant financial savings to the county.

(Ord. 11014 § 1 (part), 1974: Ord. 4099 Art. 105 § 20306, 1942.)

The total amount of cash awards made pursuant to the program in any one fiscal year shall not exceed the sum appropriated for that purpose by the board of supervisors. The amount of each cash award shall be computed as follows:

A.

Where the actual or estimated net financial savings to the county during the first year of implementation of the suggestion does not exceed $1,000.00, the award shall consist of an amount equal to 10 percent of such actual or estimated first year's net financial savings, except as provided in subsection C below;

B.

Where the actual net financial savings to the county during the first year of implementation of the suggestion exceeds $1,000.00, the amount of the award shall be computed according to the following scale:

C.

No award shall be less than $10.00.

D.

No award shall exceed $100.00 unless it is based upon the actual, rather than the estimated, net financial savings to the county during the first year of implementation of the suggestion.

E.

After a suggestion has been implemented in a county department and an award has been made for said implementation, the board of supervisors may make a supplemental cash award if the suggestion is implemented in other departments or units and additional net financial savings accrue to the county. The supplemental award shall be in an amount which, when added to the original award and all other supplemental awards for the same suggestion, will equal the amount to which the

suggester would have been entitled if the suggestion had originally been applied to all departments or units to which it now applies.

F.

When a public suggestion is a partial solution to a problem, or a solution to part of a problem, and must be revised or developed before it can be implemented, the amount of any cash award which is paid for the suggestion shall be based upon its proportionate importance to the total or final solution to the problem which is actually implemented.

G.

In determining the actual net financial savings to the county for purposes of computing the amount of any cash award under the program, the cost of implementing a public suggestion, including any applicable installation costs, shall be amortized on a reasonable basis.

(Ord. 11014 § 1 (part), 1974: Ord. 4099 Art. 105 § 20307, 1942.)

The duties of the chief administrative officer with respect to the program shall be as follows:

A.

To administer and coordinate the program;

B.

To maintain proper files and records;

C.

To make recommendations to the board of supervisors concerning the eligibility of suggestions and suggesters, and the procedures for evaluating suggestions;

D.

To assure that each eligible public suggestion is thoroughly and fairly investigated, evaluated and reported upon;

E.

To recommend changes in the program to the board of supervisors;

F.

To submit periodic reports and recommendations to the board of supervisors on the functioning of the program;

G.

To receive, acknowledge, process and refer public suggestion; to the appropriate department for investigation, and to reject duplicate or otherwise ineligible suggestions;

H.

To call upon any county officer or employee for information and recommendations on any public suggestion or any person submitting such suggestion;

I.

In his discretion, to refer back to the department for further consideration a public suggestion which the department has rejected in whole or in part;

J.

To receive and review investigation reports from the various county departments and to submit the same to the board of supervisors with his recommendations;

K.

To prepare appropriate rejection and commendation letters and transmit them as directed by the board of supervisors to persons submitting public suggestions;

L.

To assist county departments in publicizing and promoting the plan;

M.

To interpret the program to the various county departments and to members of the public, and to act as a consultant on award problems presented to him;

N.

To insure that adopted public suggestions are widely publicized, both within the county departments and throughout the county generally, to obtain maximum possible benefit to the county.

(Ord. 11014 § 1 (part), 1974: Ord. 4099 Art. 105 § 20308, 1942.)

Each county department shall:

A.

Investigate and estimate the possible savings on a public suggestion affecting its operations, and report that information to the chief administrative officer within 45 days of the receipt of said suggestion;

B.

Adopt and implement, wherever feasible, public suggestions which may reasonably result in financial savings to the county;

C.

Keep records on actual net financial savings resulting to the county from the implementation of public suggestions, in such form as the chief administrative officer may from time to time prescribe, and make that information available to the board of supervisors or any other department upon request;

D.

Assist the board of supervisors or any other department upon request in investigating or evaluating a public suggestion or in promoting or publicizing the program.

(Ord. 11014 § 1 (part), 1974: Ord. 4099 Art. 105 § 20309, 1942.)

A.

Public suggestions shall be submitted in writing to the chief administrative officer on forms provided by the chief administrative officer. They shall be legible and shall contain the name, address, telephone number and signatures of the person or persons submitting them.

B.

Each public suggestion shall contain sufficient information to justify its consideration and to allow processing. If adequate information is not provided, the chief administrative officer may request such additional information as he deems appropriate. Failure of a suggester to provide such information shall constitute grounds for disqualification of the suggestion.

C.

The chief administrative officer shall immediately record the receipt of each public suggestion and, after preliminary review, refer it to the appropriate county department or departments for investigation.

D.

A suggestion will be deemed submitted when received by the office of the chief administrative officer in a form acceptable under this section. In the event that duplicate suggestions are submitted, only the first suggestion received shall be eligible for an award under Part 2 of this chapter.

E.

With the consent of the chief administrative officer, a public suggestion may be submitted before it is fully developed in order to establish the priority of right thereto of the person or persons submitting it.

(Ord. 11014 § 1 (part), 1974: Ord. 4099 Art. 105 § 20310, 1942.)

A.

All public suggestions which are adopted shall become the property of the county of the Los Angeles, except that if the board of supervisors approves, the suggester may apply for patents if the county is given a nonexclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free license to use such patented suggestion as long as the patent, or any renewal thereof, remains in effect.

B.

The county shall not be liable to any suggester for any sum of money other than that which the board of supervisors shall in its sole discretion see fit to award.

C.

Upon submission of a suggestion, the suggester shall waive any claim for compensation for such suggestion other than as provided for in Part 2 of this chapter, and each suggestion blank submitted by a suggester shall contain such a waiver.

(Ord. 11014 § 1 (part), 1974: Ord. 4099 Art. 105 § 20311, 1942.)

No provisions of Ordinance 4099 concerning the program or any award of procedure under the program shall, under any circumstances, give any person or persons any right to any judicial or administrative relief whatever.

(Ord. 11014 § 1 (part), 1974: Ord. 4099 Art. 105 § 20312, 1942.)

Notwithstanding any other provision of Part 2 of Chapter 5.60 or any other ordinance, no persons shall be entitled to an award under Part 2 of Chapter 5.60 for an idea or suggestion submitted prior to November 1, 1974, the effective date of the ordinance codified in Part 2 of this chapter.

(Ord. 11014 § 1 (part), 1974: Ord. 4099 Art. 105 § 20305, 1942.)