Window on a County’s Collapse : OC Grand Jury presents a view of official irresponsibility

A year after Orange County declared bankruptcy, a grand jury has weighed in with a devastating portrait of how the fiscal crisis could have happened. There are important lessons here for the public.

The grand jury issued civil accusations of official misconduct against two supervisors, Roger R. Stanton and William G. Steiner, and the county auditor-controller, Steve E. Lewis. It indicted the former budget director, Ronald S. Rubino, on criminal charges. But regardless of whether any of those named are shown to be culpable, there remain questions about the quality of oversight in a broad range of officials.

For example, three other supervisors who held office before the collapse avoided charges only because they had retired or resigned. Even as the grand jury announcement was made, the district attorney’s office was having to answer criticism about its own response to the warnings of a 1993 internal audit into county investment practices.

Supervisors were found to have failed in a responsibility so basic that it is in their title--supervising. Poor oversight was found in such areas as monitoring investments and requiring reports on them and questioning the dependence on interest earnings. The grand jury said Stanton actually distanced himself from responsibility. Overall, the impression is one of a county government lacking expertise and attentiveness to consequences.

As these proceedings play out, there is a more fundamental question of accountability that lies at the heart of this crisis. That is suggested dramatically, to cite just one instance, in the descent of Rubino from hero to goat. As long as he and others provided money for favored programs during bleak budgetary times, there were few naysayers for big investment gambles.

Orange County thus found itself with a deadly combination of high community expectations and poor political leadership. In Wednesday’s grand jury action, the finger of accountability pointed to a handful of public officials, but it is clear that to avoid such problems in the future, a much larger group of citizens and elected leaders must be willing to make and support tough fiscal choices.