Popejoy’s Kitchen Cabinet on Griddle : Orange County: CEO turns to old friends for advice. Amid criticism, he adds some diversity.
COSTA MESA — Shortly after William J. Popejoy took over as Orange County’s chief executive, he faced a crisis.
He had set a date for giving the Board of Supervisors a list of county assets that could be sold. Department heads, however, had pulled together an unworkably long list of county-owned property. Much more sifting was needed.
In a bind, Popejoy turned to trusted advisers from his past: Neil Stolz and Paul Nussbaum, executives who had been part of a Popejoy-led rescue team at American Savings & Loan Assn. in the 1980s.
Popejoy made his deadline.
Relying on volunteer help from a close group of friends and former business associates has been Popejoy’s style as he seeks to lead Orange County out of bankruptcy, and his kitchen cabinet has been exercising considerable influence behind the scenes.
But critics question whether the group--the first eight of whose members were white, male, affluent and, with one exception, Republican--can comprehend how the drastic measures being considered to salvage the county financially will affect the less advantaged.
“It’s my experience that those coming out of the financial community place more emphasis on debits and credits than they do human beings,†said Eugene Wheeler, a marketing executive who is president of the Orange County chapter of 100 Black Men of America, a nonprofit service organization of successful African American professionals who mentor young black men.
“Why not add some women in there to bring some sensibility to this thing?†asked Wheeler. “Or a capable Hispanic or Asian or black?â€
On Friday, Popejoy did just that, adding to his kitchen cabinet of volunteers a black man, Daryl Carter, chief investment officer of the real estate advisory firm Carter Primo Chesterton, and a woman, Layna J. Browdy, a communications manager for the Automobile Club of Southern California who had been a Popejoy aide at American Savings.
Popejoy says he intends to expand the group further, but that reading resumes takes time: “You can’t just dump a hundred people in and say, ‘Help us!’ â€
Indeed, he bristles at any criticism of his advisers, whom he has dubbed VETs, for “volunteer executive team.†The group also wins high praise within the business community for its members’ credentials.
“All of them are absolutely first rate,†said David L. Smith, a financial consultant at the accounting firm KPMG Peat Marwick who advised Popejoy’s management team at American Savings.
Of Popejoy’s advisers, Walter Gerken, former chairman of Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Co., may be the best known because of his long years of leadership in charitable and civic circles. Gerken, Popejoy’s liaison with the Orange County Transportation Authority, is “a world-class intellect,†said Stan Oftelie, chief executive of the agency.
Still, some observers are troubled that most of Popejoy’s cabinet is composed of familiar faces without clear lines of public accountability.
“We got into this mess because of secrecy, collusion and back-room dealing,†said Marc Petracca, associate professor of political science at UC Irvine. “You won’t get yourself out of it with the same characteristics of decision-making.â€
Private sector advisers are most effective if their work is done in plain view, said Felix Rohatyn, a partner in the Lazard Freres & Co. investment bank and one of the business executives who volunteered to help New York City through its financial crisis in 1975.
“You must be very open about what you’re doing,†Rohatyn said, “so people can see you don’t care whether you are helping a Republican or a Democrat.â€
Openness has not been the watchword of Popejoy’s advisers to date. His staff has turned down repeated requests to let reporters attend kitchen cabinet meetings and canceled an appointment for Popejoy to be photographed with the group.
Group members and observers are quick to point out, though, that the advisers are volunteers, not elected officials, and that they are contributing their time and considerable expertise without compensation.
The pressure on them has been intense, the hours erratic and often long. Said Nussbaum, who has emerged as Popejoy’s chief aide-de-camp: “We’re fighting on multiple fronts. You’re done, you go on to something else.â€
Popejoy is adamant that he welcomes women, minorities and people of all political persuasions to the process, but he says he isn’t inclined to seek diversity among his advisers simply for the sake of appearance.
“I’m trying to get a job done now,†he said.
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