Supervisors Feud Over Leadership of O.C. Revamp

SANTA ANA â€”  In the first visible rift among top officials, members of the Orange County Board of Supervisors battled among themselves Friday over who would take the lead in revamping government in the wake of the county’s unprecedented fiscal collapse.

As Supervisor Roger R. Stanton was completing a “white paper� on restructuring the county, some of his colleagues accused him of acting behind their backs. Stanton, meanwhile, took a swipe at County Administrative Officer Ernie Schneider, questioning whether he had failed to provide oversight of the county’s financial dealings.

“It looks to me like Roger is operating independently and perhaps has his own agenda,� said a fuming Supervisor William G. Steiner, who was surprised to learn that the “white paper� was being drafted without his contributions. Steiner said he had been asked to co-author the work.

In other developments Friday:

* The board tried to soften the blow of what is expected to be hundreds of layoffs and forced early retirements. Supervisors promised that those laid off because of the county’s bankruptcy will receive a one-time cash payment for their sick leave, vacation and other benefits. Supervisors also reversed their initial demand that county workers who choose to take early retirement by Jan. 10 sign waivers saying they will not sue if the county fails to pay their benefits over the next three years.

* Supervisors began meeting with consultants who are seeking to help the county out of bankruptcy. In separate sessions with Supervisors Gaddi H. Vasquez and Stanton, William O’Connor--a principal in a Newport Beach public finance firm--suggested increasing various fees, such as landfill dumping charges and utility taxes, to help restore the county’s solvency.

* In an emergency session called to discuss the impact of the county’s bankruptcy, Catholic Charities of Orange County vowed to continue job placement and other programs despite concerns that the agency may not be reimbursed for the services, whose funding is administered by the county. Those services include emergency food and housing for the needy, in-home care for the elderly, gang prevention efforts and services to people with hearing impairments.

Until now, county leaders have sought to present a united front in guiding the recovery from the crisis that drove Orange County into bankruptcy.

But Friday, Vasquez, the board’s new chairman, said he was studying whether to allow private companies to run county-owned parks, landfills and other facilities to raise money.

Meanwhile, Stanton was completing his “white paper� on restructuring county government and said he planned to release it today.

‘Now It’s Broke’

Stanton said his proposal starts “with a basic examination of everything we do.� The county has long neglected to trim fat or chop layers of bureaucracy, Stanton said, because the economy was good and there was an attitude of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.�

“Now it’s broke,� Stanton said. “We don’t want to patch up the same ship and sail on.�

But Stanton’s proposal seemed to rile other supervisors, including Steiner and Vasquez, who said they were not aware that their colleague was putting together a restructuring plan.

“Roger Stanton specifically asked me to join him in this restructuring effort,� Steiner said. “I’m surprised at this, what did he call it, ‘white paper’ or ‘proposal,’ because I was under the impression that I was to be joining Roger. . . . I’m certainly interested in his ideas, but I don’t think county government necessarily needs to be dismantled.�

Vasquez declined to comment on Stanton’s proposal, but became visibly upset when he learned that it was going to be released.

Stanton said he proposes identifying essential county services and then looking at each department to see if it should be merged, cut, restructured or left alone.

After accusations that county officials neglected to oversee Treasurer-Tax Collector Robert L. Citron and his investments on their behalf, Stanton also said the county needs “a clear delineation of authority and communication.�

The responsibility of county leaders needs to be re-examined, he said. “What did the CAO fail in doing? What are his responsibilities of oversight?�

Schneider could not be reached for comment Friday night. Across the county, frustrated city and school officials braced for more severe cutbacks.

In Huntington Beach, the City Council is set to make nearly $1 million in cuts Wednesday in an effort to close a budget shortfall that has been worsened by the county’s financial crisis. “We have to bite the bullet and see how to deal with it,� said Councilman Ralph Bauer.

In Irvine, school board member Hank Adler said Friday that he expects the Irvine Unified School District to lay off workers. But he said he doubted that the district would follow the county into bankruptcy.

“I think we can work our way through it,� he said. “I think (bankruptcy) is possible, but I think it’s unlikely. I’m going to do everything I can to prevent that from happening.�

Irvine schools have the most of any Orange County school district--$102 million--in the county’s now-frozen investment fund, which has lost $2.02 billion in value.

Adler and other board members said the district could prevent bankruptcy by selling some assets, such as surplus property. But they said they would try to avoid selling parcels slated as school sites.

“We have some assets we can sell,� Adler said. “Obviously, there’s a lot of steps you can take in a $100-million organization.�

The board will probably authorize the creation of a financial task force to develop best- to worst-case scenarios, said trustee Mike Regele.

“All of us would agree that keeping cuts away from the classroom are a top priority,� he said.

Other school districts said they will consider cutbacks next week.

Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District Supt. James O. Fleming is preparing a list of budget cuts for its board to weigh Jan. 10. “We put a hold on a bunch of projects� after the county declared bankruptcy, said trustee Jerry Brakebill.

Trustees of the Tustin Unified School District, with about $12.8 million frozen in the county treasury, will meet Friday to consider a second round of cuts, including whether to stop construction of an elementary school in Tustin Ranch.

At the Los Alamitos Unified School District, the financial crisis might force a delay in the long-anticipated reopening of Oak Middle School.

Board’s About-Face

In Santa Ana, the Board of Supervisors, which announced a blueprint last week for broad cuts and layoffs, did an about-face Friday on its requirement that retirees sign a waiver that would have prohibited them from suing if they did not receive all payments due for accrued sick time, vacation and compensatory time during the next three years.

Officials characterized that change--and the promise of lump-sum payments--as good-faith efforts to deal with angry labor leaders and the county’s 18,000 workers. But spokesmen for county employees decried the concessions as meaningless and said they would move ahead next week with legal action to halt widespread layoffs.

“It’s like somebody who is trying to cut off both of your arms then says, ‘Wait a minute, I’ll only cut off one of your arms,’ � said Paul Crost, a lawyer for the Orange County Attorneys Assn., whose members include all deputy district attorneys, public defenders and lawyers in the county counsel’s office.

John H. Sawyer, general manager of the Orange County Employees Assn., called the board’s decisions “entirely self-serving� and hardly a concession.

The lump-sum cash payment for laid-off workers is called for in labor contracts that the board unilaterally voided, and the waiver demanded of retirees was blatantly wrong, said Sawyer, whose group representing 11,000 workers is the county’s largest employee union.

Sawyer said there are more than 2,000 county employees eligible to retire. But he charged that the county, by imposing a Jan. 10 deadline for retirement decisions, is trying to frighten employees into retiring early.

Sawyer, who initially estimated that 800 to 1,000 employees would lose their jobs as a result of the cuts announced last week, now says he does not expect such massive layoffs to take place right away.

Correspondent Shelby Grad contributed to this report.