Marin County's administrator is leaving a legacy of collaborative expertise
Things run so smoothly in Marin County government that you rarely hear about it. Think about it. No budget crises, no mass layoffs, no labor strikes and no interruptions in services.
There have been no charges of corruption or mismanagement. The only rare controversies occur with elected officials who operate independent of county government.
It is worth it to take a pause to reflect on a little history of civil service reform in our country and the impact it had on local government. There was a time in our history when government at all levels was filled with cronyism, nepotism and corruption.
Civil service reform in the United States was a major issue in the late 19th century at the national level, and in the early 20th century at the state and local level.
Proponents denounced the distribution of government offices — the “spoils” — by the winners of elections to their supporters as corrupt and inefficient. They demanded nonpartisan merit-based systems and credentials be used to select civil servants.
The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act of 1883 effected reforms at the federal level. The Civil Service Act of 1888 dramatically expanded the civil service system. Other laws followed that further restricted political activities of civil servants to minimize partisanship and incompetence in administration of government at all levels. County Administrator Mathew Hymel is a product of the civil service merit-based system. He earned a master's degree in public administration from the Harvard Kennedy School. He honed his experience in
San Francisco's Office of the Mayor before coming to Marin, first as assistant county administrator and then administrator.
As a mediator working for the state, I have encountered a great many county executives in the course of trying to avert strikes and other job actions. I have seen, close up, the disruptions to the delivery of services that mismanagement of budget and personnel issues can create. We have had little such drama under the leadership of Hymel.
Marin fared far better than most counties in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Marin County Civil Grand Jury report published two years after the pandemic started, Marin's rate of 120 infections per 1,000 residents was far lower than other California counties and counties nationwide.
This is particularly impressive given Marin's large elderly population and the increased vulnerability it represents.
According to the Grand Jury, which conducted interviews with county employees, educators, health care professionals and community agencies (such as the Canal Alliance nonprofit), a key to Marin's success was the collaborative approach initiated by the county executive.
Hymel relied on the expertise of employees, department heads, community organizations and the Marin County Office of Education to cast a wide net and coordinate a comprehensive, successful approach to one of the deadliest pandemics of our time.
The county's response to the pandemic is perhaps the most visible example of Hymel's leadership style, which has been described as quiet, understated and collaborative. It is a rare individual at the county executive level who is humble enough to recognize the wisdom of relying on others with expertise and put that understanding into action.
Hymel gave a generous six month's notice of his retirement. He retires this month. When asked why the large time frame, he said he wanted to give the Board of Supervisors plenty of time to carefully and thoughtfully recruit for his replacement.
We can only hope that our new county executive will be as content to work in the background and marshal the expertise of other individuals and organizations which has been so successful in Hymel's tenure as county executive. It has been the hallmark of his exceptional leadership.