Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of this study was to determine the potential benefits and drawbacks of centralizing the county of Los Angeles public housing utilizing the perceptions of leaders in the county public housing management. Currently the country has about twenty-six independent housing agencies that are separately managed and administered by their own officers. The county's decentralized housing system created the problem of duplication of services, waste, less coordination among the agencies, acute shortages of many units, substandard houses, and lack of adequate level of maintenance. The study attempted to investigate whether a change in the independent variable: change in Los Angeles County public housing organized structure (centralization) would affect the improvement in services. Centralization encompasses the consolidation of budgeting control, personnel function, strategic planning, and performance monitoring. Improvement in services includes saving of funds, better customer service, more housing units, low program abuse, consistent and less duplication of services. Methodology. The population of the study was the twenty-six housing agencies in the county of Los Angeles. A survey was conducted by mailing a questionnaire and face-to-face interviews of 125 randomly selected administrators to determine the perception of public housing administrators in housing management. The independent t-test was used to determine differences in the responses of senior- and middle-level administrators. Findings and conclusions. The study found that 57.4 percent of administrators disagreed that centralization would lead to saving of funds, 49 percent disagreed that it would lead to the addition of more housing units, and 48 percent disagreed that it would improve services. Though the administrators disagreed that centralization would be beneficial to the county of Los Angeles public housing agencies, certain benefits would be outcomes of centralization. The senior- and middle-level managers differed significantly on all of the research questions. Recommendation. The county housing agencies should explore ways to capitalize on the benefits of centralization. They should form partnerships to take advantage of the economy of scale while they maintain their autonomy. They should pool their financial and human resources to embark on big projects, promote coordination, and foster exchange of ideas.