After a series of embarrassing scandals and infighting, the West Hollywood City Council has eliminated its controversial council deputy system.
The council voted this week to do away with its current system, in which each of the five part-time elected officials had his or her own highly paid, full-time deputy.
The deputies will be replaced by a team of city employees, who will provide services for all of the council members -- including scheduling, legislative support and constituent outreach — and ultimately answer to the city manager.
Critics of the council deputy system have said the council aides did not have much direct supervision because they answered to both the city manager and their individual council members, who have other jobs and typically are not at City Hall during the day.