Saturday, May 1, 2010

John Williams, a man of many discrepancies (like an electron, he manages to be in two places at once!)

Once again, Pen Pal has sent me some government records that, like so many we've already seen, paint a curious and disturbing picture of Mr. John Williams, SOCCCD trustee, County Administrator/Guardian, and alleged "fiscal conservative."

This time, they're time sheets.

Here's one of them:


This time sheet was submitted by Williams on November 22 of 2005. As you can see, he claimed to have put in 8 hours of work per day (as OC Public Administrator/Guardian) from November 14 to November 18, 2005. (Click on the graphics to enlarge them.)

Here's the problem. Not long ago, Pen Pal requested records from the South Orange County Community College District regarding Williams' travel and expenses as an SOCCCD trustee. Here's a detail of some of what he received:


According to the district's records, Williams was at a conference in San Francisco from the 17th until the 19th of November, 2005. (Doubtless, the district paid for his air travel and lodging.) But if he was in San Francisco on the 17th and 18th, how could he have put in 8 hours at his office in Santa Ana on both the 17th and 18th?

Gee Willikers! I wonder if, in turning in that time sheet, John was claiming to have done work that in fact he did not do?

As you know, this is not the first time we've noticed discrepancies in records of Mr. Williams' work and travel. (See At a hotel in Tampa, Florida?)

Here's another time sheet that Pen Pal recently acquired:


As you can see, Mr. Williams claimed to be working for 8 hours (presumably at his Santa Ana office) on December 5 and 6 of 2005. And yet the above SOCCCD document has Mr. Williams at a conference in San Diego from the 4th until the 6th of that month. Was it really possible for Williams to attend a conference in San Diego while working full days in Santa Ana?

Here is yet another time sheet that Pen Pal recently received:


On this document, Williams claimed to be working (for 8 hours) on the 3rd and 4th of April, 2006. But the above SOCCCD document indicates that Williams was at a conference in Orlando, Florida (he has family there), from the 1st until the 4th.

Pen Pal received this time sheet as well:



Here, Williams claimed to put in a full day of work on both the 29th and 30th of January, 2007. But, again, the district document (above) indicates that Williams was at a conference in Orlando, Florida, from January 27 to 30 in 2007. How could he be at his County office on the 29th and 30th if he were in Florida on those days? 

Another time sheet:



Williams claimed to put in full work days on April 12 (not shown), 13, 16, and 17, 2007. According to SOCCCD records, however, Williams was in Tampa, Florida, at a conference from April 12 to 17, 2007. (Pen Pal has the time sheet for 4/12 as well.) (We covered some of this on a prior post.)

Pen Pal writes that, "From 11/15/07 through 11/21/09, when [Williams] did not have to fill out a timesheet, I am seing approximately 58 additional days where he was out of town on SOCCCD business." He notes that, for a two year period, that's an awful lot of time taken from his county job.

I wonder if the County paid him for any of those days? Perhaps we'll never know.

SEE ALSO:
• Is Mr. Williams accountable? Apparently not
• OC Public Administrator/Guardian claims to be at work despite being at a hotel in Tampa, Florida
Big thanks to Pen Pal, who, for the time being, prefers to remain anonymous. He acquired the time sheets via a formal request to Mr. Howard Sutter, Manager, CEO Community/Media Relations, County of Orange. He acquired the SOCCCD "travel" documents via a request to Tracy Daly, the district’s Director of Public Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations.

I have read Mr. Pal's correspondences with these officials, and it appears that they have been very professional and cooperative. We thank you both!



Report Hits For-Profit Colleges for Aggressive Recruiting at Homeless Shelters (Chronicle of Higher Education)
U of Phoenix, natch

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

John Williams is a man of great and wonderful powers.

You should not complain just because he can do two jobs at once and be in two places at once - that why he gets the big bucks - twice over.

He's a hardworking public servant.

Anonymous said...

Scandalous! How come the Register or the new Voice of the OC doesn't pick this story up? He's got some splaining to do!

Roy Bauer said...

7:45, well, gosh, I just don't know.
The Reg "Watchdog" who wrote about this last was Jennifer Muir. You can contact her at
jmuir@ocregister.com

Anonymous said...

Wow!!! Unbelievable! June 8th can't come quick enough. All Orange County voters will have a choice in who they want to run the Public Administrator's department. As for me Colleen Callahan HAS MY VOTE!!!!

Anonymous said...

It's only a discrepancy if John can't be on both coasts at the same time. But he can. Phil Greer is his attorney!

Anonymous said...

Wonder what Dave Lang is doing?

8Man said...

Has anyone contacted the district attorney?

Anonymous said...

Williams and the District Attorney are Good ole boys going way back! Mr. Williams' assistant ran the D.A.'s campaing last election (just like she does for most of the Board of Supes). I wouldn't expect much from him! Maybe the State Attorney General or State Grand Jury!

Anonymous said...

No doubt John will blame some lowly staff person like he always does.

Roy's obituary in LA Times and Register: "we were lucky to have you while we did"

  This ran in the Sunday December 24, 2023 edition of the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register : July 14, 1955 - November 20, 2...