Surprise, surprise! Don Wagner votes against campaign disclosure

Assembly fails to pass campaign disclosure bill (Santa Cruz Sentinel)

Wagner: opacity is good

     SACRAMENTO, Calif.—Lawmakers have rejected a campaign disclosure bill that would have required top donors to be identified in television, radio and print advertisements.
     The Assembly on Tuesday failed to pass AB1148, which fell two votes short of the two-thirds needed, 52-26.
     Democratic Assemblywoman Julia Brownley of Santa Monica said her bill would have demanded more transparency as special interests take advantage of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in the Citizens United case, which grants political speech rights to corporations.

Giving liberals the stink eye

     Republican Assemblyman Donald Wagner of Irvine said the bill would have taken the state in the wrong direction and driven campaign spending underground.
     The bill would have specified the size and color of printed disclosures, as well as the duration for which they must appear.

An Open Challenge to Disingenuous Don Wagner (OJ Blog)

Vern’s account is well worth reading

     In today’s OC Blog, our pal Vern Nelson offers the best coverage yet of yesterday’s hearing regarding former OC Public Administrator (and former SOCCCD trustee) John Williams: John Williams Agonistes.
     Here’s a little bit of it:

   …So I walked up and introduced myself, shook his hand. “Ah Vern Nelson” – yes he had read all my stuff lambasting him over the last two years. I wished him good luck with whatever comes next in his life, we kind of agreed that there are different sides to every story, and he eventually told me a couple things he thought I should know (to which there happen to be good counter-arguments by the way) – he says the two famous “scathing grand jury reports” on him had been retracted because of their “faulty methodology” – and he insisted he WANTS the new “Colantuono report” to come out because supposedly it vindicates him. (No it doesn’t.)

Barely one

   But the burning question he refused to answer, … was WHY ARE YOU FIGHTING SO HARD TO KEEP THIS JOB? Why can’t you go out with a little dignity? You’re sixty, you’ve got three pensions to get you through your retirement, your family’s in Florida, you’re obviously out of your depth, EVERYONE says you’ve been doing a horrible job, even your bible-thumping former friends like John Moorlach have turned against you, but you just keep fighting to stay on. Is it just because staying on a little longer might make your pension a little higher? Or is Phil Greer dragging you along for a little more loot?

Richard McCullough

     Earlier today, South Orange County Community College District personnel received word that Richard McCullough has died.
     In a letter from Saddleback College President Tod Burnett to denizens of Saddleback College (forwarded to IVC), we learned that

   Dr. Richard D. McCullough, Saddleback College’s beloved president from 2004 to 2008, passed away this morning after his brave battle with cancer.
   As you know, Dr. McCullough truly loved Saddleback College, and he was greatly loved in return. All who worked with him or were taught by him admired his unmatched intelligence, compassion, and charming sense of humor. He will be tremendously missed by all of us.
   Dr. McCullough started at Saddleback College in 1971 as a professor in the department of biological sciences. During his 37 years at the college, Dr. McCullough served in many capacities, including president, vice president for instruction, and dean of mathematics, science, and engineering. Dr. McCullough designed the college’s electron microscopy laboratory and was instrumental in building our solar observatory. He will be forever remembered for his vision and leadership in building the Saddleback College Veterans Memorial….

Williams’ motives become clear

Williams chose retirement date to boost pension, county says (OC Reg)

     John S. Williams, Orange County’s locked-out public administrator, selected a retirement date that would boost his pension income when he negotiated his departure with the county’s leadership, the county said in court papers Monday.
     The papers were filed hours before Orange County Superior Court Judge William Monroe denied Williams’ emergency petition for immediate reinstatement to his elected office and told the parties to come back to court in March for further hearings.
     Thomas Mauk, the county’s top executive, said in a declaration filed before Monday’s hearing that a confidential review of the Public Administrator/Public Guardian office prepared by outside attorney Michael Colantuono at the county’s request “revealed that actions taken by (Williams) had created significant financial and liability risks for the county.”
     Colantuono’s report also showed that Williams’ attorney, Philip Greer, “had been given access to highly confidential PA/PG case files, including Adult Protective Services referral reports,” in violation of the state’s Welfare and Institutions Code, Mauk’s declaration says.
     Greer didn’t immediately return two phone calls seeking comment on Mauk’s declaration.
     Mauk’s statements, made under penalty of perjury, bolster the county’s argument that Williams agreed to retire from his elected post as part of a deal with the county’s Board of Supervisors, and that Williams is now attempting to renege on that deal.
     Williams contends he never resigned or retired and was merely contemplating retirement when he wrote last March to Bill Campbell, then chairman of the Board of Supervisors, stating “It is my intention to retire as Public Administrator – Public Guardian on Jan. 23, 2012.”
     After Colantuono delivered his confidential report in February 2011, Williams and Greer began negotiations with Mauk and the Board of Supervisors on Williams’ resignation, Mauk said. All parties to the negotiations “understood and agreed that (Williams) would resign to avoid disclosure of the Colantuano report and to minimize the county’s liability exposure,” Mauk said.
     “However, (Williams) wanted to extend the period he received his full county compensation in order to enhance his pension benefit, based on his years of service as a community college district trustee,” Mauk said.
     “Ultimately, (Williams) suggested that he would resign if the county agreed to extend his salary through Jan. 23, 2012, a date (Williams) suggested, apparently because it enabled (Williams) to qualify for a more generous retirement benefit through the Orange County Employees Retirement System,” Mauk said. “To obtain (Williams’) resignation, the county accepted (Williams’) offer to retire effective Jan. 23, 2012.”
. . .
     Leon Page, a deputy county counsel who represented the county at Monday’s hearing, said in an email that Williams’ pension benefit “was apparently tied, in some way,” to Williams’ 18 years on the South Orange County Community College Board of Trustees. Williams resigned from that board in December 2010.
     Page said he didn’t know how much Williams’ agreement with the county boosted his pension benefit. “Over the next few weeks, we hope to conduct discovery that should provide the answers to these and other questions,” he said.
     Williams and the county are due back in Monroe’s courtroom on March 13. In the meantime, the parties will conduct discovery, including taking Williams’ deposition. The Public Administrator/Public Guardian office will continue to be managed by Lucille Lyon, a veteran estate administrator who was appointed by the Board of Supervisors last July.
. . .
     Williams, 60, has served as the county’s elected public administrator since 2003. He had also served as the appointed public guardian until the Board of Supervisors fired him from that role in June.
     As public administrator, Williams earned salary and other pay of $153,558.44 annually.