Thursday, September 30, 2010

LFC, Fuentes, and Williams: oh my!

     Just the other day (More of John Williams' fascinating campaign documents), we noted the curious fact that Tom Fuentes’ (former?) employer, LFC, shows up on Williams’ campaign funding disclosure documents.
     Today, another Williams/LFC connection emerges. This is from today’s Voice of OC:

Focus on Contract Between Auction House and Public Administrator

     As county officials begin their probe into the estate dealings of Public Administrator/Public Guardian John Williams, attention is beginning to focus on LFC, a Newport Beach auction house with ties to the highest levels of Orange County's Republican Party.
     The company, whose headquarters are about a half-mile from a popular Republican watering hole called Gulfstream, recently won a sole source contract to liquidate a $1.25 million property controlled by Williams' agency.
     The public administrator/public guardian has been in the limelight since last month when District Attorney Tony Rackauckas fired the prosecutor's heir apparent, former Assemblyman and county Supervisor Todd Spitzer, because Spitzer looked into an estate case Williams was administering….
. . .
     Since then, county officials announced they are conducting an audit.
     County officials are now beginning to ask questions about why the property auction contract with LFC was never brought to the supervisors, as with most large contracts.
     A testimonial from Williams on the LFC.com website details the sale.
     Back in the 1990s, when the County of Orange filed for bankruptcy, they contracted LFC to sell their diverse portfolio of properties worth over $250 million through conventional sealed bid and outcry auction methods.
     Recently, the County used LFC's Internet-based auction program to sell a nondescript land parcel that had been on the market for more than three years. We established a release price of $1 million for the property. The marketing campaign produced over 2,800 visitors to the website, 32 registered prospects and 7 active bidders. After numerous rounds of bidding, the property sold for $1.25 million. We couldn't believe it.
     Legendary former Orange County Republican Party Chairman Tom Fuentes at one point had an office at the firm, and sources close to the transaction said he made the introduction between the company's owner and Williams.
     Fuentes said he couldn't remember making the introductions but admits it "may well have been the case."
     "I've known the owner of LFC for 30 years. I was there for a couple of years, and I know John Williams," Fuentes said.
     But, Fuentes said, "there's no business relationship" with the firm currently, which is why his state statement of economic interests (Form 700) filed with the South Orange County Community College District doesn't indicate any income from the company.
     Fuentes said he had his offices at LFC several years ago when he became a senior fellow with Claremont Institute because the firm donated office space to the program. He still regularly communicates with an email address with an lfc.com tag.
     Yet Fuentes said he had no knowledge of the LFC land transaction for Williams' office. However, he has always been a strong supporter of Williams, and sources say he has lobbied county supervisors on Williams' behalf.
     Fuentes' introduction of Williams to LFC was around the time that Williams convinced county supervisors to combine the appointed job of Public Administrator (with an annual salary of $20,000) and the elected job of Public Guardian (which pays $138,000) and hand both offices to him.
     Fuentes said he didn't recall lobbying for Williams in recent years but said he is a strong supporter and wouldn't discount the fact that he's let people at the county know his opinions in the past. Fuentes said he's also a big proponent of offices like Williams' being elected offices, arguing that it goes with conservative values of heightened accountability.
     Williams is a "dedicated public servant," said Fuentes, who also serves on the South Orange County Community College District with Williams. "He's a very committed and hard-working public official, a man of integrity and of great quality."
     Williams recently came under fire because of accusations that he was traveling on behalf of the college district while getting paid by the county. A county internal audit cleared Williams of any wrongdoing.
     Fuentes said many of Williams' problems in recent years are because "he has [to] bite the bullet and [has] made hard decisions that have gained him enemies or opponents."
     Williams has seen his share of controversy over the past year.
     A grand jury in 2009 issued scathing reports against Williams that prompted county supervisors to vote on transforming his office back into an appointed position in December. Williams barely survived the 3-2 vote.
     As back in 2009, Williams has now hired political attorney Phil Greer to represent him. Earlier this week, Greer confirmed that the county audit is beginning to probe Williams' operations.
     While Greer declined to comment on the LFC contract or Fuentes' connections to it, he said Williams is confident that the county audit will clear his agency of any wrongdoing.

For an exploration of Tom Fuentes’ connection with LFC, go to Trustee Fuentes' boss, Buffalo Bill Lange

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Just to clarify, I do not believe the county's auditor cleared Williams of any wrong doing. The explanation as I read it basically said they couldn't hold dumbass accountable because he couldn't understand the complex payroll guidelines, which state in part at the bottom of the timesheet - thow shall not lie! Secondly, Fuentes states of Williams "Williams is a dedicated public servant,he's a very committed and hard-working public official, a man of integrity and of great quality." If this were true, why does he year after year after year STEAL from the public by taking these long trips to Florida, having the tax payers of south county pay for airfare, hotel, car rental, food, internet, and so forth, when we all know he goes there for vacation to visit his family. As a sole board member (Padberg)on the SOCCCD concerned with wasting tax payer $$$ states that these same confereneces that Williams attneds to on the east coast are readily available here on the west cost. And the worst part, is that he then lies to his full-time employer and falsify's his timesheets (before mid 2007 when he actually had to fill one out)stating he was at work, when in fact he wasn't. Because he saved up so much of his vacation time from not using any (lying on his timesheets), he was able to cash it out to the tune of over $17,000.00). Lets keep our fingers crossed for a legitimate investigation into Williams department.

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

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