Blaming an "awkward and inaccurate payroll" system

CLEARED? Well, judge for yourself:

Administrator/Public Guardian Cleared by Auditor (Voice of OC)

.....Orange County Internal Auditor Dr. Peter Hughes has cleared County Administrator/Public Guardian John Williams of any wrongdoing for traveling to community college district conferences while on duty for the county.
.....In a May 18 letter to County Executive Officer Thomas G. Mauk, Hughes said Williams "complied with County payroll reporting policy for exempt employees."
.....Hughes blamed an "awkward and inaccurate payroll" system for putting Williams in the position of signing required time sheets while traveling to conferences for the South Orange County Community College District...
.....The payroll system cannot accurately reflect the bifurcation of duties where one individual has both elected and exempt employee components taking on two distinct job duties. The timekeeping system required John to account for 80 hours every two weeks to be paid as an exempt Department Head irrespective of time devoted to fulfilling his elected position.
.....The confusion was eliminated, the letter said, in 2007 when the Board of Supervisors named Williams ex officio Public Guardian.
.....The letter said for 40 years before that, Orange County had concurrent Public Administrators and Public Guardians, and the person who held the posts received two paychecks each payday

Oddly enough, though I sent the letter that caused the "audit," the above letter (report of findings) was not sent or forwarded to me. (It has been forwarded to others however.)

Pretty unprofessional.

Wacky, sunshiny day

LUNATIC. There’s a Santa Ana resident who thinks that Huntington Beach helicopters have been following him for nearly two years: Man claims helicopter harassment, wants $25 million

A Santa Ana man is asking the city of Huntington Beach for $25 million claiming that helicopters and planes are following him, according to city documents. ¶ Michael Lucchese, 57, filed a claim against the city Monday saying he is under "constant surveillance" by aircrafts that have followed him about 20 times a day since June 2008. The alleged harassment has caused him distress and has ended some of his relationships, the claim said.

I bet Lucchese is a Tea Partier. That reminds me,

WAGNERIAN. The unfailingly mediocre Matt Cunningham opines today that Donald Wagner is doing well in his Assembly race. “Wagner seemed to have commanded mucho momentum for the last several months,” says Cunningham. Too bad that Cunningham is so mediocre. But maybe he knows what he's talking about. Dunno

SCIENCE’S B-DAY. The always interesting Bob Park (What's New?) reminds us today that next Friday (May 28) will be Science’s birthday. It will be 2,595 years old:

On May 28, 585 B.C. the swath of a total solar eclipse passed over the Greek island of Miletus. The early Greek philosopher, Thales of Miletus, alone understood what was happening. The world's first recorded freethinker, Thales rejected all supernatural explanations, and used the occasion to state the first law of science: every observable effect has a physical cause. The 585 B.C. eclipse is now taken to mark the birth of science, and Thales is honored as the father. What troubles would be spared the world if the education of every child began with causality?

Meanwhile, most Orange Countians have their doubts about global climate change.