Politics, Government and Business in Southern California's Inland Empire
By Nicole Santa Cruz, Los Angeles Times
May 9, 2013, 11:57 p.m.
The first grand jury report described Orange County as being a “hotbed of corruption, conflict of interest and abuse of authority” while the next blamed political leaders for the “implosion” of the county’s health plan for the poor.
By Nicole Santa Cruz
May 8, 2013, 7:00 p.m.
Orange County may owe the state as much as $150 million after a judge tentatively ruled this week that it must pay back funds originally meant for local schools and community colleges.
Posted: Tuesday, April 16, 2013 6:00 am
By TRACY WOOD
The Orange County Grand Jury, citing the county’s 40-year history of political corruption, Monday recommended creation of an independent ethics commission to advise elected officials of ethical pitfalls and increase public confidence in government.
By Matt Clark
March 27, 2013 – 06:01 p.m.
Here’s a list of the top 10 highest-paid county executives.
March 11th, 2013, 3:38 pm
Posted by MARTIN WISCKOL
Orange County is known as an ATM for political fundraisers – Mitt Romney came for the dough four times in 2012 – but the sums brought in by the county’s own Congress members are relatively middling.
L.A. NOW
Southern California — this just in
March 8, 2013 | 3:52 pm
A report on the root causes of problems at the San Onofre nuclear plant shows that officials considered making design changes to the plant’s new steam generators before they were installed but rejected some fixes in part because they would require further regulatory approvals.
Posted: Thursday, January 17, 2013 7:00 am | Updated: 12:18 pm, Thu Jan 17, 2013.
BY NORBERTO SANTANA JR.
A committee set up by the Orange County Fair Board is recommending that the board urge Gov. Jerry Brown to investigate a shadowy statewide organization, the California Construction Authority, in connection with the failed effort during the Schwarzenegger administration to privatize the fairgrounds.
December 27th, 2012, 12:15 pm
Posted by Andrew Galvin
The County of Orange has persuaded the state’s Department of Finance to lower its demand for unused housing funds from the county’s former redevelopment agency, reducing by $29.6 million the amount the county must pay.
December 26th, 2012, 11:57 am
Posted by Jeff Collins
The value of homes in the Los Angeles-Orange County area jumped $122 billion in 2012, the biggest cumulative gain of any major metro area in the nation, the online real estate site Zillow.com reports.
By BRIAN JOSEPH / ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Published: Dec. 20, 2012
Updated: Dec. 21, 2012 7:02 a.m.
The state Department of Finance has demanded in recent weeks that 19 Orange County cities and the county itself turn over a combined $263 million in unused funds previously earmarked for low- and moderate-income housing.
By Christopher Goffard, Los Angeles Times
November 20, 2012, 4:08 a.m.
Orange County was once an instant synonym for Republican power, and the GOP’s dominance looked impregnable. Now, battered by the recent election results and dismayed by the slow, steady decline in party registration, Republicans here are struggling to craft a new strategy.
By Christopher Goffard, Los Angeles Times
September 16, 2012
One after another, people stepped before the Costa Mesa City Council to decry the blight and lawlessness on tiny Ford Road — prostitutes, thieves, home invaders. What the city needs, they pleaded, is more cops.
July 26th, 2012, 4:58 pm
Posted by Andrew Galvin
Tom Mauk agreed Thursday to resign as the county’s highest non-elected official, the latest executive departure since former O.C. Public Works manager Carlos Bustamante was charged with 12 felonies for alleged sexual abuse of female employees.
Mauk will receive about $270,000 in severance payments, said John Moorlach, chairman of the county’s Board of Supervisors. That includes 10 months of pay and 410 hours of accrued vacation time and is a bit less than Mauk would have been entitled to under his contract if he’d been fired, Moorlach said.
BY DUG BEGLEY
STAFF WRITER
dbegley@pe.com
Published: 05 April 2012 10:43 PM
Faced with a half-trillion dollars in Southern California transportation needs through 2035, officials Thursday called for higher gas taxes or a shift to a fee drivers would pay based on how far they drive.
April 5th, 2012, 3:13 pm
Posted by Andrew Galvin
Remember that $73.5 million that Orange County grabbed from schools a few months back, forcing the state to make up for it? This was after the state grabbed $49.5 million in Vehicle License Fee money from the county to help balance the state’s budget.
Well, the state wants its $73.5 million back.
By Alejandro Lazo, Los Angeles Times
February 16, 2012
The Southland’s housing market is flooded with cash-rich, bargain-hunting investors snapping up distressed homes and dragging down overall prices — but their presence also indicates the market could be nearing bottom.
February 3rd, 2012, 5:00 am
Posted by Tony Saavedra, Register investigative reporter
The Orange County Employee’s Retirement System ended 2011 with an investment return of 0.74 percent — that’s 7 percent less than projected.
But OCERS officials, though concerned, say it is too early to panic. For one thing, says CEO Steve Delaney, the 20-year average is 7.9 percent on investments, right where the system needs to be.
November 14th, 2011, 4:07 pm
Posted by Kimberly Edds, Staff Writer
In a bold move to make up for $49.5 million in tax revenues lost to the state earlier this year the County of Orange will grab $73.5 million in property taxes once destined for local school districts, County Supervisors Chairman Bill Campbell said Monday.
Frank C. Girardot, Staff Writer
Created: 09/30/2011 05:03:08 PM PDT
Local officials are bracing for a radical realignment of the state penal system that will place thousands of low-level felons in county jail rather than prison.
Published: Sept. 30, 2011 Updated: 5:56 p.m.
By KIMBERLY EDDS / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
The County of Orange needs to make $29 million in cuts, lay off dozens of employees and dip into its reserves under a plan recommended by the county’s chief executive officer to recoup $49.5 million the state took to fix its own budget issues.
September 29th, 2011, 3:33 pm
Posted by Kimberly Edds, Staff Writer
The County of Orange was unfair to the Sheriff’s deputies union when it moved deputies out of jailhouse jobs and replaced them with civilian jailers in an attempt to save as much as $34 million a year, a California Court of Appeal ruled.
Ellis
Posted: Friday, September 23, 2011 2:14 pm | Updated: 10:00 pm, Fri Sep 23, 2011.
NORBERTO SANTANA JR.
Friday, Sept. 23, 2011 | Orange County Marketplace swap meet owner Jeff Teller, a driving force behind the two-year fight to stop the sale of the local fairgrounds, has been kicked off the property.
Orange County Fair Board Chairman David Ellis
NORBERTO SANTANA JR.
Posted: Tuesday, August 23, 2011 6:43 am
Updated: 12:16 pm, Tue Aug 23, 2011.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011 | The Orange County Fair Board’s attempt to privatize the county fairgrounds in Costa Mesa — a two-year saga that prompted multiple investigations and lawsuits — ended last month when Gov. Jerry Brown officially nixed a proposed sale to the Newport Beach-based Facilities Management West.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011 – 06:00 p.m.
The Lewis Group of Companies strike again and more questions come forth!
This time it’s a large parcel of land, owned by the Orange County Flood Control District, and located in the City of Highland sphere influence.
South California
Supervisor urges 13 counties to secede
Neil Nisperos, Staff Writer
Created: 07/11/2011 08:10:22 PM PDT
RIVERSIDE – A local lawmaker has called for much of Southern and Central California to secede from the Golden state.
Housing market
Business suffers all over SoCal
Sandra Emerson, Staff Writer
Created: 06/13/2011 09:22:10 PM PDT
Southern California home sales continued at a snail’s pace in May while the median sale price fell by the largest amount in 20 months.
Published: June 7, 2011
Updated: June 8, 2011 7:33 a.m.
By JON CASSIDY
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
SANTA ANA – The sale of the Orange County fairgrounds to a private company is dead, unless the state Supreme Court resurrects the deal.
May 4th, 2011, 1:03 pm
Posted by Martin Wisckol, Politics reporter
UPDATED with reader poll on whether we should stop using the photo of Obama as a chimp.
The Orange County GOP official who sent an email portraying President Barack Obama as a chimpanzee was censured this morning by the county party’s executive committee in a 12-2 vote.
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
May 1, 2011
California Democrats adopted a series of predictable positions as their convention this afternoon – supporting Planned Parenthood, healthy oceans and the California Dream Act, for example – but a shot at one Orange County Republican caused a minor stir within the ranks.
Marilyn Davenport
April 21st, 2011, 11:53 am
Posted by Martin Wisckol, Politics reporter
Santa Ana Republican Virgil Nickell wants to know why the county GOP doesn’t kick Marilyn Davenport off the party’s governing Central Committee.
Friday, April 22, 2011
By Ed Mendel
Orange County supervisors led by John Moorlach took on the legal issue of boosting pensions for years already served under a less generous plan. They lost when the state Supreme Court last week unanimously refused to hear their appeal.
Thursday, April 21, 201 – 07:40 a.m.
The Orange County Board of Supervisors led by foolish supervisor John Moorlach just had their hats handed to them by the California Supreme Court.
April 20th, 2011, 3:27 pm
Posted by Martin Wisckol, Politics reporter
The Orange County GOP official who emailed a controversial photo depicting President Barack Obama as a chimp reiterated her apology today, but also said that she didn’t consider the rendering racist and that she wasn’t sure Obama is U.S. born.
April 19th, 2011, 4:35 pm
Posted by Martin Wisckol, Politics reporter
The Orange County GOP chairman is being criticized for his public condemnation of an email depicting President Barack Obama as a chimp.
April 18th, 2011, 8:05 pm
Posted by Martin Wisckol, Politics reporter
The Republican official who emailed a controversial email depicting President Barack Obama as a chimpanzee issued an apology this evening, but county GOP Chairman Scott Baugh continued to call for her resignation and ordered an ethics review of the controversy.
March 21st, 2011, 4:44 pm
Posted by Martin Wisckol, Politics reporter
Orange County continues to be the 800-pound gorilla of California Republican politics, thanks in good measure to the size of the county and the number of major donors. But O.C. continues to slip in its ranking of the state’s most GOP counties. And that gorilla may have shed a few pounds.
By Norberto Santana, Jr.
Posted: Tuesday, March 15, 2011 3:54 pm | Updated: 6:41 pm, Tue Mar 15, 2011.
Ever since he was elected last summer, Orange County Supervisor Shawn Nelson has been trying to get rid of pensions for local elected officials.
It hasn’t been easy.
March 8th, 2011, 8:02 am
Posted by Kimberly Edds, Staff Writer
The County of Orange took the next step in its fight to overturn the county’s generous “3 percent at 50″ pension plan for sheriff’s deputies, filing its petition with the California Supreme Court.
Ellis
By Vern Nelson
February 28, 2011
Given the shitstorm coming down the pike for the various insiders implicated in the attempted Great Swindle of the Orange County Fairgrounds, we figure it’s time to start introducing some of the players whose names you’ll be hearing a lot in the news in the coming months. And current Fair Board chairman Dave Ellis is one such character who’s been particularly fascinating to me for a long time now. Publicity-shy, he’s conducted his 25-year political career as much as possible in the shadows. (He now prefers to be called “David,” probably because it’s even harder to google.)
OC Watchdog ~ Your tax dollars at work
February 24th, 2011, 1:34 pm·
Posted by Tony Saavedra, Register investigative reporter
Two high-ranking officials at the Orange County Employees Retirement System have been placed on paid leave in connection with a $228 million mistake that has resulted in multi-million dollar pension catch-up bills for agencies countywide.
Posted: Tuesday, February 22, 2011 9:58 pm | Updated: 12:59 pm, Tue Feb 22, 2011.
NORBERTO SANTANA, JR. Voice of OC
Wednesday, February 2, 2010 | Last October, when District Attorney Tony Rackauckas cleared former State Senator Dick Ackerman of any illegal lobbying on the proposed sale of the Orange County Fairgrounds, his report stated that Ackerman didn’t violate a state ban on lobbying former colleagues because “his contact was not with state legislators.”
By Vern Nelson
February 22, 2011
Given the shitstorm coming down the pike for the various insiders implicated in the attempted Great Swindle of the Orange County Fairgrounds, we figure it’s time to start introducing some of the players whose names you’ll be hearing a lot in the news in the coming months. And current Fair Board chairman Dave Ellis is one such character who’s been particularly fascinating to me for a long time now. Publicity-shy, he’s conducted his 25-year political career as much as possible in the shadows. (He now prefers to be called “David,” probably because it’s even harder to google.)
Posted: Monday, February 21, 2011 6:24 pm | Updated: 8:22 pm, Mon Feb 21, 2011.
NORBERTO SANTANA, JR. Voice of OC
Tuesday, February 22, 2010 | The state’s Fair Political Practices Commission has launched an investigation into whether contacts former State Senator Dick Ackerman made with current legislators on behalf of the Orange County Fair Board constituted illegal lobbying.
By Vern Nelson
February 20, 2011
Given the shitstorm coming down the pike for the various insiders implicated in the attempted Great Swindle of the Orange County Fairgrounds, we figure it’s time to start introducing some of the players whose names you’ll be hearing a lot in the news in the coming months. And current Fair Board chairman Dave Ellis is one such character who’s been particularly fascinating to me for a long time now. Publicity-shy, he’s conducted his 25-year political career as much as possible in the shadows. (He now prefers to be called “David,” probably because it’s even harder to google.)
By Vern Nelson
February 17, 2011
Given the shitstorm coming down the pike for the various insiders implicated in the attempted Great Swindle of the Orange County Fairgrounds, we figure it’s time to start introducing some of the players whose names you’ll be hearing a lot in the news in the coming months. And current Fair Board chairman Dave Ellis is one such character who’s been particularly fascinating to me for a long time now. Publicity-shy, he’s conducted his 25-year political career as much as possible in the shadows. (He now prefers to be called “David,” probably because it’s even harder to google.)
February 8th, 2011, 2:30 pm · posted by Kimberly Edds, Staff Writer
The County of Orange’s fight to overturn the county’s generous “3 percent at 50″ pension plan for sheriff’s deputies is not over just yet. Next stop: the California Supreme Court.
February 7th, 2011, 4:46 pm · posted by Kimberly Edds, Staff Writer
The Orange County Board of Supervisors will vote in closed session Tuesday whether to take their fight to overturn the county’s generous “3 percent at 50″ pension plan for sheriff’s deputies to the state Supreme Court.
January 8th, 2011, 2:36 pm · posted by Kimberly Edds, Staff Writer
Three days before Gov. Jerry Brown unveils what he promises to be a “painful” state budget that asks all Californians to tighten their belts even tighter, most of the county of Orange’s elected officials and 100 executives received the largest paychecks they’ve received in 18 months.
That’s because the 5 percent reduction the Board of Supervisors voted to cut from their own salaries along with the salaries of the county’s seven other elected officials and county executives last year was quietly allowed to expire, The Watchdog has learned.
Wendy Leung, Staff Writer
Created: 01/05/2011 05:46:05 PM PST
Local government officials’ interests were piqued when Gov. Jerry Brown said on Tuesday he wants to try a new approach to dealing with the state’s budget mess by restructuring the relationship with local government agencies and shifting many state services to county and city control.
By Anthony York and Shane Goldmacher, Los Angeles Times
January 5, 2011
Reporting from Sacramento —
In his first full day on the job, Gov. Jerry Brown walked right up to the third rail of California politics: Proposition 13.
Heading into a meeting with local government officials Tuesday morning, Brown said implementation of the property-tax limits that Californians hold dear has contributed to the state’s financial mess. The new governor said his budget proposal next week would include plans to return to cities and counties many government functions that Sacramento took over after Proposition 13 passed.
L.A. NOW
Southern California — this just in
December 15, 2010 | 7:33 pm
The on-again, off-again — rinse and repeat — sale of the state-owned Orange County Fairgrounds was back on Wednesday after Orange County Superior Court Judge Michael Brenner ruled in the state’s favor in a lawsuit filed by opponents of the plan.
November 4th, 2010, 3:00 am · posted by Teri Sforza, Register staff writer
The compensation of Orange County Executive Tom Mauk has long been the sort of thing that sends rank-and-file county employees into tailspins. But when compared to other county execs in the Golden State, Mauk’s pay pales a bit.
While Mauk runs the third-most-populated county in California, he comes in at No. 13 on the list of most highly-paid county CEOs. His compensation totals $304,699, according to figures from the state controller’s office .
Sunday, October 31, 2020 – 6:00 p.m.
The Orange County Registrar of Voters is reporting heavy absentee ballot return as of this weekend. So far 47.38% or 325,632 out of 687,267 absentee ballots issued have been returned.
County-wide: 47.38%
Republican: 51.84% Democrat: 43.91% Ind/DTS: 38.05%
The absentee ballot return is 20.08% or 325,632 of 1,621,534 total registered voters.
Thursday, October 21, 2010 – 07:45 p.m.
The Orange County Registrar of Voters is reporting 126,730 out of 667,122 absentee ballots mailed have been returned as of Thursday.
A return rate of 19.0%.
65,335 out of 317,627 or 20.59% of Republican Party ballots have been returned.
38,182 out of 217,639 or 17.54% of Democratic Party ballots have been returned.
19,451 out of 131,896 or 14.74% of Independent/Decline to state ballots have been returned.
Rackauckas
Posted: Thursday, October 21, 2010 3:07 pm | Updated: 9:15 pm, Thu Oct 21, 2010.
District Attorney Tony Rackauckas earlier this year allowed state Sen. Tom Harman to use the DA’s Office to help out his campaign for attorney general — offering him the title of “prosecutor” for use on the ballot.
However, it wasn’t until Rackauckas’ news conference Wednesday — in which he laid out his case against former protege Todd Spitzer — that Rackauckas publicly acknowledged his favor to Harman, whom he endorsed in the June primary.
Sarah Palin gives the keynote speech during the Republican National Committee’s “Victory Rally” at the Anaheim Marriott on Saturday.
.
Published: Oct. 16, 2010
Updated: 7:41 p.m.
By JEFF OVERLEY
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
joverly@ocregister.com
ANAHEIM – Sarah Palin brought her bold brand of folksiness and ferocity to Orange County on Saturday, telling a throng of admirers that Republican success on Election Day is their only hope of “saving our republic as we know it.”
Ear-splitting applause erupted from the 2,000-person audience as Palin, sporting a gray pantsuit, took the stage inside an Anaheim Marriott ballroom.
Loretta Sanchez has kept the seat by wide margins since 1996, but polls and political handicappers see a possible upset by GOP Assemblyman Van Tran. Democrats are confident in Sanchez’s campaign.
By Jean Merl, Los Angeles Times
October 3, 2010
Ever since her headline-grabbing upset of conservative Republican icon Rep. Robert K. Dornan back in 1996, Rep. Loretta Sanchez has won reelection in her working-class district by wide margins. Now, however, Republicans believe they stand a fighting chance of unseating Orange County’s only Democratic member of the House.
Sanchez
Published: Sept. 24, 2010
Updated: Sept. 25, 2010 10:18 a.m.
By DOUG IRVING
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
SANTA ANA – Democratic Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez said Friday that her now-famous remark about “Vietnamese” trying to take her seat had been misinterpreted but apologized if it caused any offense.
She did not, however, apologize for calling her Republican challenger Van Tran – himself an immigrant from Vietnam – anti-immigrant. Instead, she accused him of using her words to “take a cheap political shot.”
They aren’t explicitly allowed or forbidden under county code, but are required to get use permits. Supervisors reject a bid for a temporary ban on the establishments in unincorporated areas.
By Raja Abdulrahim, Los Angeles Times
September 22, 2010
The Buddha and bamboo shoots are gone.
In their place is an empty home — except for the metal detector — that until recently was the site of one of half a dozen marijuana dispensaries that opened up in the last year in tiny Sunset Beach.
September 20th, 2010, 12:21 pm · posted by Kimberly Edds, Staff Writer
Medical marijuana dispensaries in unincorporated Orange County could be banned under a proposed 45-day moratorium as the county prepares for the possible legalization of marijuana by voters in November’s statewide election.
The county ordinance, which would ban new dispensaries and dispensaries without permits, must be approved by 4/5 of the board of supervisors. The board meets Tuesday to debate the issue.
Published: Sept. 17, 2010
Updated: 6:15 p.m.
By JON CASSIDY
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
COSTA MESA – Twice before, the board of the Orange County Fair & Event Center has tried to buy the fairgrounds from the state.
Now it says it already owns the property.
Rackauckas
September 2nd, 2010, 4:23 pm · posted by Kimberly Edds, Staff Writer
District Attorney Tony Rackauckas announced he will run for re-election in 2014, his chief of staff confirmed Thursday.
“He will be running for DA in 2014,” said Rackauckas’ chief of staff, Susan Kang Schroeder. Rackauckas declined through his spokeswoman to be interviewed.
August 31st, 2010, 6:38 pm · posted by Kimberly Edds, Staff Writer
Ousted Assistant District Attorney Todd Spitzer claims Susan Kang Schroeder, the district attorney’s chief of staff, colluded with her boss Tony Rackauckas to get him fired in the hopes of derailing Spitzer’s plans to be the next Orange County District Attorney – and to move Schroeder herself a step closer to getting the job.
Spitzer
Posted: Sunday, August 29, 2010 12:22 am | Updated: 12:55 am, Sun Aug 29, 2010.
NORBERTO SANTANA, JR.
Saturday, August 28, 2010 | Former state Assemblyman and county Supervisor Todd Spitzer spoke out Saturday, saying he was improperly fired from the Orange County District Attorney’s Office over a routine phone call to the Public Guardian’s Office to check into the status of a case.
Spitzer made the call on behalf of Huntington Beach resident Teddie Alves, who had called Spitzer at the Harbor Justice Center and asked him to look into allegations of domestic violence and elder abuse at the Public Guardian’s Office.
Published: Aug. 29, 2010
Updated: Aug. 30, 2010 6:49 a.m.
By FRANK MICKADEIT
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Did anybody really think D.A. Tony Rackauckas ‘s anointment of Todd Spitzer to replace him in four years was going to go smoothly?
Well, naïve little me thought it might. But under either of the two prevailing theories as to why T-Rack fired Spitzer on Friday, this was a marriage that was doomed.
Published: Aug. 28, 2010
Updated: 9:18 p.m.
By RACHANEE SRISAVASDI and DEEPA BHARATH
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Todd Spitzer, who aspires to be Orange County’s next top prosecutor and was viewed as the likely successor of District Attorney Tony Rackauckas, said he was fired from the law-enforcement agency.
Susan Kang Schroeder, chief of staff for Rackauckas, had confirmed earlier Saturday that Spitzer was no longer an assistant district attorney. “We are legally prohibited from commenting on the separation of Todd Spitzer’s employment status due to confidentiality laws,” she said.
The dispute over Anaheim’s 3-year-old ban on medical marijuana outlets is sent back to the lower court. But the judges do reject the city’s position that U.S. law trumps California’s laws on the issue.
By John Hoeffel, Los Angeles Times
August 19, 2010
A state appeals court Wednesday declined to decide whether California’s medical marijuana laws prevent cities and counties from outlawing dispensaries, sending the closely watched dispute over Anaheim’s 3-year-old ban back to the lower court for more hearings.
Published: Aug. 18, 2010
Updated: 6:16 p.m.
Medical pot ruling called ‘significant victory’
By ERIC CARPENTER
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
ANAHEIM – A state appellate court released a much-anticipated but mixed ruling Wednesday on a case involving Anaheim’s ban on medical marijuana dispensaries, failing to provide the clear precedent that both sides were anticipating on whether California cities have the right to ban all such dispensaries.
The case will now likely go back to the trial court for further review.
August 18th, 2010, 3:00 am · posted by Tony Saavedra, Register investigative reporter
The Orange County Employees Retirement System spent $31,360 in its losing court battle to keep secret the names and pensions of retirees making at least $100,000 a year.
That’s money, essentially, out of pensioners’ pockets.
Trend in the Region
Property Values Dip for Second Year
Friday, July 23, 2010
By Rich Saskal
ALAMEDA, Calif. — Assessed property values in California are likely to decline for the second year running, according to a Bond Buyer review of data from the state’s larger counties.
Even though the state’s tax assessment system has the effect of muting the volatility of property assessments, 11 of the state’s 12 largest counties experienced a decline in their property tax roll this year.
Posted: Wednesday, June 30, 2010 8:16 pm | Updated: 11:43 am, Tue Jul 6, 2010.
Charlie Walters, the assistant sheriff in charge of the jails on the 2006 night that John Chamberlain was killed by inmates, is now the county’s second highest paid pensioner after opting for retirement in 2008 in the wake of a criminal grand jury probe, prosecutions and firings in the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
Mike Carona
By Paloma Esquivel, Los Angeles Times
July 9, 2010
Orange County pension records show that convicted former Sheriff Michael S. Carona collected about $215,000 last year in retirement payments — and he was just one of more than 400 county pensioners who received more than $100,000 in retirement in 2009.
Carona, who was convicted last year of witness tampering, remains free on bail pending appeal. But his indictment in 2007 rocked the county and forced major changes to the county’s top law enforcement agency.
June 21st, 2010, 3:39 pm · posted by Jennifer Muir
A new, hybrid pension plan for county employees is still tied up at the Internal Revenue Service, and county staff is asking for more money to resolve the issue.
Under the two-tiered plan, current employees were supposed to be able to choose whether to keep their old benefits, or select a hybrid plan that features a reduced pension but also a defined contribution component, similar to a 401(k).
June 21st, 2010, 3:00 am · posted by Tony Saavedra, Register investigative reporter
Justice may be blind, but in the hands of the Orange County Employees Retirement System, it’s also gum-footed slow.
The Watchdog reported two weeks ago that an Orange County Superior Court judge ruled OCERS must provide the names of retirees, how much they collect and where they last worked. Judge Luis Rodriguez’ decision came in response to a lawsuit by the California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility, with help from the Orange County Register.
By Susan Ferriss
sferriss@sacbee.com
Published: Sunday, May. 30, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
As he stares into the abyss of a $19.1 billion state budget shortfall, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg is urging Californians to consider an earth-shifting governmental move.
To help social services such as child welfare and elder care avoid massive cuts, he wants to transfer more responsibility for those programs from the state to counties.
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