Williams gutted and depleted the value of the Tapout estate, says Lewis’ ex-wife

     Today, I got a kind of thank-you note from Kimberly Edds of the OC Reg. I wasn’t sure what she was thanking me for, but she did leave a link to her article about Williams in today’s Register:

Claim filed against O.C. public guardian in TapouT estate case (OC Watchdog)

     The heirs of TapouT co-founder Charles “Mask” Lewis have filed a claim against the county, accusing Public Administrator/Public Guardian John S. Williams of negligence in the handling of the multi-million dollar estate of Lewis, who died in a 2009 car crash.
     The claim, filed last week by Diane Larson, Lewis’ ex-wife and mother of his two children, accuses Williams of failing to properly manage the multi-million dollar estate, operated TapouT “in a manner to gut and deplete the value of the estate’s interest,” and sold TapouT without authorization.
. . .
     A judge will decide how the fees are distributed. Larson wants the fee matter decided by an out-of-county judge; the public administrator is fighting Larson’s change of venue request for the case….
     Meanwhile, Williams is working with county officials to move in a new executive manager to overhaul the culture of his struggling agency. It is unclear whether Williams, who has repeatedly been criticized for the way he runs his agency, will step down in the wake of the Board of Supervisors’ decision to bring in additional oversight and make immediate personnel changes.
     The Board of Supervisors can remove Williams from the appointed position of public guardian at any time. He is also the county’s elected public administrator, a position which the Board of Supervisors cannot take from him.
. . .
     Williams, who began serving a new four-year term in January, remains in charge of the office for now. Williams still owes himself $125,500 for his campaign, according to campaign finance filings.
     Williams is cooperating with Board Chairman Bill Campbell and the county’s Chief Executive Officer Tom Mauk to ease into the transition, Campbell said. Discussions are ongoing about Williams’ fate in the office, Campbell said.
. . .
     While trying to negotiate his own future, Williams is negotiating with the county to save the jobs of his political appointees if he leaves office before his term is up, county officials confirmed.
     Among Williams’ political appointees is Peggi Buff, Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas’fiancee, who was promoted by Williams from executive assistant to his second-in-command five years after she began working for the office. Williams has political ties to Rackauckas and longtime Orange County Republican Chairman Tom Fuentes.
. . .

     The move to wrestle control of the agency away from Williams is a result of two county grand jury reports and the county’s own investigation which exposed “serious concerns” about the department’s operations, according to the county’s chief executive office.
. . .
     Williams’ private attorney, Phil Greer, called the Watchdog back Monday afternoon to provide a “no comment.” Greer is a county GOP insider who has represented all five current county supervisors except Supervisor John Moorlach….
     The yet-to-be hired manager will be charged with establishing a risk-averse culture, instituting new standards for obtaining goods and services, and making personnel adjustments after a human resources audit of the Public Administrator/Public Guardian is finished.
     The county wants to fill the position with an experienced lawyer, banker or receiver, Campbell said. The executive manager will report directly to Mauk, who has the final say on who is hired. Williams, a former Orange County marshal, holds a masters’ degree in public administration, but is not a lawyer.
. . .
     Renewed calls for reform were made last fall after then-Assistant District Attorney Todd Spitzer was fired by Rackauckas after he made a call to the Public Guardian’s office regarding a case.
     Rackauckas, in an October press conference, admitted he was uneasy about confronting Spitzer over his call to the public guardian because of his fiancée’s position in the office. He also confirmed he spoke with Buff’s staff before firing Spitzer.
     Rackauckas’ chief of staff, Susan Kang Schroeder, also admitted during the same press conference she discussed Williams’ press release criticizing Spitzer for calling his department. Williams had said in a previous interview that the press release was the work of several people within his own agency and did not involve anyone from an outside agency. Kang Schroeder had also previously denied any involvement.
     Buff, who was a one-time campaign fundraiser for Rackauckas also helped raise campaign money for Supervisor Pat Bates during her 2010 re-election campaign. Buff was first appointed to the pubic administrator/public guardian in 2003 as an executive assistant….