Really cutting the fat in government

There was trouble lurking behind the scenes at the Compton Courthouse.

Doughnuts. Homemade banana bread. Deep fried cafeteria treats. And a healthy dose of rivalry to see who could do the best job of avoiding all that unhealthy stuff and the unwanted pounds that go with it.

Deputy Alternate Public Defender Connie Quinones and her self-named squad of Hub City Hotties knew the competition would be stiff when they set out to become L.A. County’s biggest losers.

“The clerks were really out to beat us,” Quinones recalled.

But armed with pedometers, brown bag lunches and the workout ethic necessary to conquer the 12-story courthouse’s stairs, the Hub City Hotties helped the Alternate Public Defender’s Office prevail in its long-shot bid to win the countywide contest.

Going up against much larger departments such as the Sheriff and Health Services, the tiny, 281-employee Alternate Public Defender’s Office (which takes on clients in cases where the Public Defender has a conflict of interest) fielded three teams. Together they lost 4.4% of their body weight and took top honors in the 8-week contest. The next best performance came from the coroner’s department (3.4% lost) and the Chief Executive Office (3.3%).

A total of 6,441 employees from virtually every county department took part, losing a total of 23,085 pounds—more than 11.5 tons. All the top teams were honored at the Board of Supervisors’ meeting Tuesday, but only one went home with the trophy.

Quinones, an avid fan of “The Biggest Loser” TV show and regular user of superstar trainer Jillian Michael’s website, bought a new scale and set it up in her department’s conference room in Compton. Weigh-ins were serious business.

“There was no honor system,” said Quinones, a 19-year county veteran who lost 9 pounds during the two-month contest. “They had to have a witness when they weighed in.”

Those who gained a pound or ducked a weigh-in to hide their dietary missteps were fined $1 or $5 respectively. (Quinones used the proceeds to buy prizes she distributed randomly to team members.)

The Hotties encouraged and supported each other, brown bagging it in the conference room, exchanging ground turkey recipes and even meeting up on weekends for power walks at the beach or in Signal Hill.

Even so, success was not assured.

“I let a couple of court reporters and bailiffs join us and they gained!” Quinones said. “One gained 10 pounds!”

Fortunately, another one of the Alternate Public Defender’s teams, the eight-member Long Beach squad that dubbed itself Strong Beach, lost 7.5% of its body weight and helped put the entire department over the top.

That meant that Strong Beach captain Lupe Valdez got first dibs on bringing the trophy to Long Beach. It also will be displayed in Compton before coming downtown to central headquarters, where it will remain.

For now.

After the board ceremony, Valdez and Quinones treated themselves to a celebratory lunch of chilaquiles (definitely not on the Jillian Michaels eating plan) at El Tepeyac, east of downtown. There, they ran into some other county competitors who vowed: “Next year, we’re going to get that trophy from you.”

To which Valdez and Quinones replied: “OK, it’s on!”

Posted 10/20/10