Former San Bernardino County executive finds new home in Washington

Former San Bernardino County executive finds new home in Washington

Two and half years after stepping down as San Bernardino County’s chief executive officer, Leonard Hernandez is now the county manager of Thurston County in western Washington state. 

Hernandez, who was hired by Thurston County two years ago this month, spoke by telephone recently with IE Business Daily about why he decided to leave Southern California, his new life in the Pacific Northwest and the differences between working in a large and a small county.

 

Q: February will be the second anniversary of your hiring as Thurston County’s county manager. How did you get the job, and why did you decide to make the move?

A: Part of the reason I chose to step away from San Bernardino County was because of my wife’s health issues. We had lived in Washington state about 17 years before we moved up here and have family in the area that we needed to help us through his time. So we were familiar with the Pacific Northwest, and I was fortunate to get hired there.

Q: Did your wife’s health issues get resolved?

A: Yes. She’s significantly better now. We’re blessed that she is on the mend and doing well.

Q: You’ve said that her ailment was a factor in your decision to leave your job with San Bernardino County, but you have never said what that ailment was. 

A: No, I haven’t. I’m a public figure, so I don’t mind people talking about me because that’s part of the process, and I have to deal with it. But I prefer to leave my family out of it, except to say that she’s a lot better now. She’s teaching art to middle school students.

Q: What is Thurston County like, and what is the biggest difference between working in Thurston County versus working in San Bernardino County?

A: Thurston County is one of the fastest growing counties in Washington State, it’s population is growing about five percent a year, it’s the state capitol, but it’s not nearly as large as San Bernardino County. So that’s been an adjustment. Whenever you switch jobs there’s a learning curve, and I’m still learning.

Q: What about the job itself? Your title is county manager, which means your duties are similar to a city manager’s, but no two government entities are run exactly alike. What were some adjustments you had to make?

A: When I took over, Thurston County had just moved from three county commissioners to five. The voters approved that change a few months before I got here. So, I think some of the challenges have been dealing with an organization in flux. They had been without a county manager for almost nine months before I got here. But it was a great opportunity to jump in feet first and see if I could get things moving forward.

Q: It sounds like you’re enjoying it.     

A: I am. It’s a gorgeous community with great people. Mount Rainier is off in the distance, and the South Puget Sound is just a few miles from our office. It’s just such a wonderful community. It has a population of 300,000, but in a lot of ways in operates like a small town. The best part is the cities and counties partner well together.

Q: Is what you’re doing now similar to what you did in San Bernardino County?  

A:  Similar but different, because here I’m the county manager. In San Bernardino County I was chief executive officer, so my oversight was farther away from the operations. But the biggest difference is size. San Bernardino County has a population around 2 million. A place with only 300,000 is going to be a lot different. And geographically, there’s no comparison. San Bernardino County is the size of some states and countries, and it’s annual budget is about $9 billion. Thurston County’s biennial budget is about $1 billion. So it’s an entirely different size, and different demands.

Q: Are there similarities between your current job and the one you held in San Bernardino County?

A: Yes. I report to five county commissioners. In San Bernardino County they’re called supervisors, but it’s the same structure.

Q: Do you regret the circumstances under which you left San Bernardino County? 

A: I’m very proud of my record in San Bernardino County, but I do have a sense of loss. There’s a false narrative about my time there that has been perpetuated. The truth is that when my wife was diagnosed, all of my attention got focused on that. I knew I couldn’t continue functioning as the chief executive officer, and that we would have to relocate closer to where our family lived, so it was time to move forward.

Q: What if you had done a better job of getting your side of the story out to the public?

A:  The last thing I wanted to do is give interviews for newspaper reporters that were looking for a negative article. But to get back to your question, we made a lot of management and operational changes in San Bernardino County that I’m very proud of. I think they’ve helped the county in a lot of different ways.

Q: Two and half years later, how do you address the accusations of marital infidelity, and that you fostered a hostile work environment?

A: The infidelity accusations were rumors, and they were not true. And no one told me that they thought they were dealing with a hostile work environment. If there was anything to it there would have been complaints filed, or lawsuits, but there weren’t. Supervisor (Curt) Hagman, then Chair of the Board confirmed that nothing was filed. I stand by that.

Q: Why do you think that accusation got started?

A: I don’t know exactly, but there was a lot of change management we worked on as we moved the organization from mediocre to award winning. The timing of the article was interesting as it came out only after Thurston County announced I was selected. It appeared to have an agenda. The few employees that were named hadn’t worked for the County for years, one over 15 years and many of them did not report directly to me. As the Chief Operating Office in San Bernardino County, I oversaw HR and was involved in a lot of performance and conduct investigations with high level staff. Sometimes people didn’t like to be held accountable. You can’t make everyone happy when you are a leader, but I did treat everyone appropriately. I know that some blogs went wild with that harmful accusation, but those blogs always reported wild things. Things like I was working with the mob, or I was blackmailing the board of supervisors, or that I fired my boss. All kinds of crazy stuff just to get clicks.

Q: Do you believe you were treated unfairly?

A: By the press? It’s hard to say. I didn’t want to talk to them because I was concentrating on my wife’s medical problems, which is a private matter. The blog posts of me and other county employees are untrue and very damaging to people’s lives.

Q: There were complaints filed by employees, according to media reports, although Supervisor Hagman was quoted as saying the county didn’t receive anything that merited taking action. Did anyone ever tell you that they didn’t like their work environment, or that they weren’t comfortable working there?

A: Never. Not to me, human resources, or the board of supervisors.

Q: How were you able to leave your job while your wife was seriously ill? Wouldn’t being out of work have put a strain on your resources?

A: I worked out an arrangement with the board of supervisors. I got to use my leave pay, and the board gave me some extra time. I had close to two and a half years to find another job, just based on that arrangement. Once we got the health thing stabilized, we planned where we needed to be for family support. The board members were very generous and I am thankful to them for that.

Q: You say you’re proud off what you accomplished in San Bernardino County. What, specifically, were you referring to?

A:  We completed huge projects like the Lake Gregory Dam and opened the Big Bear Alpine Zoo, which were delayed because of poor planning and budget issues. We presented balanced budgets, worked on a number of infrastructure projects, oversaw billions in federal relief fund spending, and brought economic development to the county, like with Top Golf. In all of that we won the most National Association of County Awards of any other county in the nation, and we put the county’s first strategic homeless plan in place. But most of all I was proud of the team culture that promoted results through coordination, staff development, and innovation. I think there were quite a few things to be proud of.
Q: You worked for San Bernardino County for over 20 years, non-consecutively. Your time there included two major events, the mass shooting at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino in December, 2015, and the pandemic. What were those like?

A: I was a deputy executive officer when the shooting happened. I was later put in charge of the organizational after-action report, and I was on the leadership team. That was tough, because it reached into the heart of our organization and traumatized so many people. We were also on the national news. It was a big game-changer for all of us.

Q: And the pandemic?

A: I was the chief operating officer when it started. A lot of people were frustrated right away because we weren’t working together, and we were sending out mixed signals. Departments were not communicating and leaders were blaming each other. We had to figure out how to get out clear information. We had to figure out how to act collectively, as a team, and that was difficult considering what we were dealing with. There were some all-star leaders that came through that time, people who really stepped up and answered the call to service. It was a great team effort.
Q: When you were interviewing for the job in Thurston County, how did you deal with the circumstances of your departure from San Bernardino?

A: The people up here did their due diligence, and I was very upfront about why I had to leave. I think they came to understand that what was being reported in the press was inaccurate and the blogs were completely untrue. I feel fortunate to work with Thurston County and be close to where my wife needed to be for this time. Things come together for a reason.

Q: If you could do everything over again, would you do anything differently? 

A: I would have tried to communicate better. If people don’t hear from you directly, they’re going to believe a lot of things that aren’t true. We live in a time of a lot of false narratives.

Q: Would you have taken the job in Thurston County under normal circumstances, i.e., without the hostile work environment allegations, or having to deal with your wife’s health problems?

A: Absolutely! It’s a smaller pond than San Bernardino, but in a smaller environment you can get more done and sharpen my technical skills. I enjoyed being the chief executive officer in San Bernardino, but there’s part of me that likes being closer to the people I’m working with. The team in Thurston County is great.