L.A. County Chief Executive Officer Sets New Retirement Date

Los Angeles County Chief Executive Officer Sachi A. Hamai, who agreed to temporarily postpone her retirement to help lead the County through the initial phase of the COVID-19 emergency, announced that she will retire at the end of August 2020.

“This has been a challenging and tumultuous period for our County and its residents, and it has been an honor to help lead our workforce in its unprecedented response to COVID-19. While we still have a long way to travel on our road to recovery, our budgetary and public health situation is beginning to stabilize and I believe the time is right for me to continue with the retirement plans I first announced last October,” Hamai said. “I am confident that our Board of Supervisors, along with our department heads and exceptional workforce, will successfully lead Los Angeles County through recovery and into a healthier, more equitable future.

“This week marks my 32^nd year of County service. Although the challenges of the current moment are immense, I also reflect proudly on accomplishments during my tenure that have positioned us to meet today’s challenges from a position of fiscal strength—including our strongest-ever credit ratings and substantial investments in our rainy day funds.

“I am so grateful for the opportunity to have served. I will never forget the incredible fellow employees who have partnered with me every step of the way.”

Members of the Board of Supervisors thanked Hamai for her public service—including her decision to postpone her retirement in order to help the County navigate one of the most difficult periods in its recent history.

“I want to thank our CEO Sachi Hamai for her unwavering commitment and dedication to Los Angeles County, most recently evidenced by her willingness to postpone her retirement to help us navigate the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Board of Supervisors Chair Kathryn Barger. “The Board of Supervisors is fortunate to have had Ms. Hamai at the helm of our CEO operations for the last several years. Her leadership and keen fiscal sense, coupled with her collaborative spirit, have greatly benefited Los Angeles County as a whole, and all of our residents and businesses throughout the region.”

“Sachi Hamai has demonstrated steady leadership during this unprecedented moment in the County’s history,” said Board Chair Pro Tem Hilda L. Solis. “She has managed the day-to-day operations of this country’s largest municipal government with singular focus. I thank Sachi for her years of service to our County residents, and in particular, for her dedication these past few months in responding to this public health crisis.”

“CEO Sachi Hamai has been an exceptional leader in moving Los Angeles County forward,” Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas said. “Her budgetary acumen, coupled with her commitment to serving the underserved, has enabled us to invest deeply in some of the most important priorities of our time, including justice reform and the fight to end homelessness, while maintaining the fiscal prudence that has earned the County its highest-ever credit ratings. She has been a mentor and role model to a generation of County leaders, including women and people of color, and her legacy as a collaborative, results-oriented CEO will continue to shape the workings of Los Angeles County government well into the future.”

“Every County CEO needs to be a political wizard, a genius with money, and a long-distance runner,” Supervisor Sheila Kuehl said. “Sachi gets an A+ in all three, plus being a mentor and a champion for women and people of color in government leadership. I am so grateful for her more than three decades of service, and can’t imagine the County without her.”

“We owe Sachi Hamai a great debt of gratitude,” said Supervisor Janice Hahn. “Not only did she postpone her hard-earned retirement to guide the County through this unprecedented crisis, her careful stewardship of taxpayer dollars throughout her tenure kept our budget sound and balanced so that the Board’s priorities were always doable.  She has been an incredibly effective leader and has accomplished so much for the County’s ten million residents over her 32 years of service.”

The Board has appointed Chief Operating Officer Fesia Davenport to serve as Acting Chief Executive Officer.