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.

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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.

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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.

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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).

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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.

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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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James Rufus Koren, Staff Writer
Posted: 05/09/2010 09:47:42 PM PDT

The state is set to take millions of dollars from local redevelopment agencies today, and officials in some Inland Empire cities said they will have to lay off workers, shutter redevelopment projects for the next year and borrow money from accounts that are supposed to pay for low- and moderate-income housing.

With the economy still unsteady, property tax revenue likely to decline in the coming years and more money owed to the state next year, officials say the financial raid could hamper redevelopment efforts for four or five years. Low-income housing advocates, meanwhile, said the raid will slow down much-needed housing projects.

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James Rufus Koren, Staff Writer
Created: 05/07/2010 06:09:54 PM PDT

Redevelopment agencies will have to pay $1.7 billion to public schools Monday in a complicated funding scheme aimed at giving the state’s ailing budget a shot in the arm.

A Sacramento judge ruled Tuesday that the funding shift is legal, though redevelopment agencies have appealed that decision. The California Redevelopment Association asked an appellate court to allow agencies to hold on to its money while the appeal is heard, but the court denied that request Friday afternoon.

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May 6th, 2010, 5:14 pm · posted by Tony Saavedra, Register investigative reporter

The battle over whether taxpayers should be allowed to see Orange County public pension data finally landed today in Superior Court.

Faced with the prickly question of whether to release the names and pension amounts of retirees making more than $100,000–information that other Superior Court judges have said is clearly public–Judge Luis Rodriguez seemed to lean toward splitting the baby: perhaps giving out the information but replacing the names with a “unique identifier.”

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10:00 PM PDT on Saturday, May 1, 2010

The Press-Enterprise

Riverside County needs to bring its lavish public pension system back in line with financial reality. The county faces growing costs for retirement benefits at a time when budget shortfalls threaten public services. Supervisors should make changes that create a more affordable system and ease the burden on taxpayers.

A new report from the county’s Pension Advisory Review Committee puts the county’s retirement plan in stark context. The county has to find an additional $800 million over the next 30 years to pay for its pension promises, including the $375 million the county still owes on a pension bond from 2005.

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Published: April 30, 2010
Updated: May 2, 2010 8:41 a.m.

By JEFF COLLINS, MARILYN KALFUS, KELLI HART and IAN HAMILTON
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

The master suite has two walk-in closets, a shoe closet, a private fireplace, a workout room and a sunken tub.

It lists for $12.5 million, but if a buyer doesn’t rescue it soon, the home might be sold or revert to the lender at a foreclosure auction to satisfy unpaid debts. The current opening bid is about $9 million.

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Posted: Friday, April 23, 2010 6:01 am | Updated: 6:30 am, Fri Apr 23, 2010.

NORBERTO SANTANA, JR

Friday, April 23, 2010 |The call came late Wednesday night to Kristina Dodge, who had to step out of a movie premier. On the other end was a message from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

“They just requested we don’t take action today,” Dodge said Thursday morning after pulling the plug on a proposal by the Orange County fair board that would have left fair board members in charge of the county’s fairgrounds in exchange for sending some vendor revenue to the state.

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April 19th, 2010, 9:54 pm · posted by Jennifer Muir

A new, hybrid pension plan for county employees — touted as groundbreaking pension reform — won’t save the county cash as quickly as officials had hoped thanks to a hiccup at the good ole’ Internal Revenue Service.

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 401K. New employees also would get to pick which plan works best for them.

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David Ellis

Posted: Thursday, April 8, 2010 4:30 pm | Updated: 9:15 pm, Thu Apr 8, 2010.

Moorlach Says Ellis Mischaracterized Meeting|

Supervisor remembers meeting with Ellis and others about long-term vision for fairgrounds but not specifically about privatization plans.

County Supervisor John Moorlach this morning sent out his email blast commenting on our fair situation story. In it, Moorlach disputes Fair Board member Dave Ellis’ remarks that he was privy to the details about the fair foundation’s plan early on.

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Posted: Wednesday, April 7, 2010 9:27 pm | Updated: 9:15 pm, Thu Apr 8, 2010.

NORBERTO SANTANA, JR.

Thursday, April 8, 2010 |

Virtually every local political leader now agrees that the plan cooked up by a group of Orange County fair board members to privatize the fairgrounds last year was horribly conceived and executed.

There is less agreement, however, on how the deal shot up the political ladder and then went so bad, so fast. Instead there is a lot of high-level finger pointing and stories that don’t completely add up.

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David Ellis

Many of you have inquired as to why no photograph of famed Orange County-based political consultant David Ellis is ever placed in stories.

Well here you go.

Expect to read much much more regarding Mr. Ellis in upcoming articles. All of which, will have guaranteed entertainment value.

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February 4th, 2010, 4:24 pm · posted by Jennifer Muir

(Updated 2/5/10 with a correction to employee contributions.)

After The Watchdog complained in a post yesterday that county officials were withholding the details of a tentative agreement with the sheriff’s deputy union, they rang us up and said they wanted to open up.

The county’s Human Resources Director Carl Crown explained this afternoon that he was reluctant to release a breakdown of the contract’s costs before county supervisors consider the contract on Tuesday. They’ve been negotiating with the union since August, he explained, through a period when the county continues fighting a legal battle with the union over its pension costs. So the deal is a bit delicate.

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Published: Jan. 28, 2010
Updated: Jan. 29, 2010 9:47 a.m.

By RONALD CAMPBELL
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Chriss Street’s personal fortune and political career are on the line in a civil trial next week.

The Orange County treasurer-tax collector is fighting allegations that he looted a bankrupt trucking company while serving as its trustee. His replacement as trustee, Los Angeles money manager Dan Harrow, has sued him for $7 million.

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Troy Anderson, Staff Writer
Created: 01/20/2010 09:12:13 PM PST

At a time when the salaries and retirement benefits enjoyed by public employees in California are among the most generous in the nation, a growing number of prominent leaders are calling on elected officials to cut government pay, perks and pensions rather than reducing services to poor, sick and disabled people.

In an attempt to close a $19.9 billion shortfall, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed budget calls for cutting or eliminating health and welfare services to millions of seniors, children and low- income residents.

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January 20th, 2010, 7:25 pm · posted by Jennifer Muir

Sheriff’s deputies have agreed to start paying for a share of their retirement costs and reduce the lucrative “3 at 50″ pension benefit for new employees.

Members of the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs voted overwhelmingly to approve a tentative three-year contract agreement with the county, union spokesman George Urch said tonight. The plan comes after months of negotiation with the county, which was pushing for ways to reduce deputy retirement costs.

About half the union’s members voted, and 86.5 percent — or 766 members — approved the tentative agreement, Urch said. The union’s president Wayne Quint declined to comment until after county supervisors vote on the agreement.

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January 19th, 2010, 2:00 pm
Posted by Tony Saavedra, Register investigative reporter

In a rare public chest-thumping session, Orange County Employees’ Retirement System board members Tuesday morning said they would not back down in their efforts to keep secret the names of retirees collecting more than $100,000 a year.

“Preventing a hit on senior citizens is more important than getting a hit on a database,” boomed board member Richard A. White Jr., a sergeant with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

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January 18th, 2010, 7:55 pm
Posted by Martin Wisckol, Politics reporter

In a dramatic, 30-minute speech this evening, O.C. GOP Chairman Scott Baugh sharply criticized the direction of the country and called for a political revolution – one that includes changing the way many Republicans do things.

“We face a badly damaged country run by political parties, unions and corporations that are stealing any hope of a bright future from our children,” Baugh said, painting a picture of decay and destruction.

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Marisa Lagos,Rachel Gordon, Chronicle Staff Writers

Sunday, January 10, 2010

(01-10) 04:00 PST Sacramento –

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has demanded more federal dollars to help balance the state’s budget, but local officials say he also sent a clear message to cities and counties throughout California: The state is coming for your money, too.

Included in the governor’s proposal to bridge a $20 billion budget gap are measures that could strip more than $1 billion in transit funds from local jurisdictions, put more inmates in already overcrowded county jails, and require counties to pay more for child welfare and care for blind, disabled and elderly people.

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January 05, 2010 6:37 PM

By JENNIFER MUIR
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

A former state senator is asking Orange County supervisors to regulate local lobbyists –and themselves – by adopting sweeping reform measures aimed at adding transparency to the political process here.

“It’s been disconcerting that we are one of the few remaining counties that allows our county government to operate in secrecy,” Dunn said. “I’m not going to suggest there’s been anything unsavory happening in the county. For me, this is about trying to wrestle with the utter lack of faith that the average citizen has in government.”

Orange County’s neighbors in Los Angeles and San Diego, along with others across the state and the California Secretary of State, require lobbyists to register and follow other regulations.

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January 5th, 2010, 6:52 pm · posted by Jennifer Muir

Orange County government’s largest workers union is suggesting a strike by its members after learning that the sheriff plans to lay off 57 non-sworn sheriff’s employees in coming weeks.

Nick Berardino, general manger for the Orange County Employees Association, said the department hasn’t figured out the details of the layoffs, such as the classes of employees on the chopping block. Sheriff’s officials will confirm they’ve proposed layoffs, but say they don’t have hard numbers.

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December 08, 2009 7:42 PM

By JENNIFER MUIR and TONY SAAVEDRA
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Three members of the Orange County Fair Board are abandoning a nonprofit foundation they formed to buy the fairgrounds — and two believe the rest of their colleagues should disband the group.

The resignations crack a shaky foundation, already accused by Orange County officials of breaking state open meeting and conflict of interest laws.

The opposition to the foundation’s bid – and to the state’s plan to sell the fair in general — has been deep and strong. The city of Costa Mesa and the county of Orange are lobbying to take the fairgrounds off the market, and a state assemblyman is pushing for the governor or the legislature to block the sale.

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An Orange County based political consultant on retainer to San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael Ramos has now entered the fray of two investigations, One by the Orange County District Attorney, and second by a San Bernardino County Grand Jury.

The Orange County investigation involves actions of the Orange County Fair Board, which David Ellis serves as Vice-Chairman.

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10:00 PM PST on Tuesday, November 24, 2009

By DARRELL R. SANTSCHI
The Press-Enterprise

HIGHLAND – The City Council voted Tuesday night to turn Highland’s moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries into a permanent ban.

Approval came on a 4-0 vote, with Councilman John Timmer absent.

The decision came eight months after the council first imposed a moratorium on the dispensaries and four months before the moratorium was due to expire.

The Highland City Council is one of a growing number of governments to ban dispensaries on either a temporary or permanent basis. Among the others are San Bernardino, Yucaipa, Loma Linda and San Bernardino County. The Calimesa City Council is scheduled to consider extending its ban on Monday.

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