Report Criticizes Clerk-Recorder, Staff as Rude to Public, Negative

Orange County Clerk-Recorder Lee Branch and his staff were strongly criticized for rudeness to the public and resistance to change in a 350-page management study ordered by the Board of Supervisors.

Branch’s presence “is perceived by staff as distant and minimal, with his involvement and interest limited primarily to resisting suggested changes and refusing requests for resources,” the report states.

“We found that low morale and observed rude behavior toward clients both appear to be linked to a generally negative tone which is promoted by management,” the study adds.

Irate Client Cited

“We agree with much of what the audit (management study) says, but there are some negative comments that we don’t believe they gave us enough consideration on,” Branch said of the findings. “I will not tolerate rudeness on either side, or abuse, but I think the audit staff did not give us enough consideration on what we have to put up with.

“This morning, for example, a man walked in to our office . . . . He became irate when he was told that he needed a judge to sign a document he wanted to record . . . . He proceeded to tear it up and threw it at the deputy clerk who was trying to help him . . . . The man just walked away. That’s an everyday occurrence.”

The management study was conducted by the county administrative office at the request of supervisors and Branch, who has been under fire from board members, judges, lawyers and others for massive work backlogs and what Supervisor Ralph Clark once called his staff’s “surly” attitude toward the public.

Last October, The Times disclosed that the state’s 4th District Court of Appeal in Santa Ana had issued more than a dozen orders threatening to hold Branch in contempt for failing to forward long-overdue files from long-finished Superior Court trials.

Branch Makes $59,425

First elected to his job in 1978, Branch, who makes $59,425 annually, oversees the Superior Court clerk operations and the official recording and storage of public documents, such as grant deeds for property transfers.

The management study, a copy of which was obtained by The Times on Wednesday, states:

- “The audit team . . . did not find top management receptive to suggestions for improvements.”

- The adversary role that pits deputy clerks against the public “is often echoed in relationships between staff and supervisors . . . .”

- “The audit team found recurrent evidence of a lack of sensitivity to security issues. The safekeeping and protection of court exhibits, files and cash are compromised routinely because of an accepted belief that staff is too busy with mandated functions to establish and maintain procedures which appear to be standard precautions in all county departments.”

- An isolation of functions between separate divisions of the clerk-recorder’s office and “weak supervision . . . has allowed serious backlogs of work to develop undetected by top management. Several crises which recently have been brought to the department’s (Branch’s) attention by the District Court of Appeals, the sheriff, the district attorney and other external agencies could not have reached serious proportions had first-line supervisors understood the significance of their staff work and communicated their problems to top management.”

- “Staff were open and cooperative with the audit team, although they expressed a common sentiment that management does not support them . . . .”

The study praised Branch for initiating state legislation that has increased county revenue through higher service fees charged by his office.

Branch oversees 210 employees. Except for top management positions, all are selected through regular county civil service procedures.

The management study contains 157 recommendations. The most significant calls for the reorganization of Branch’s operations into one department. Although the county clerk’s position was merged with the county recorder’s job years ago, Branch has operated both as separate agencies.

Consolidation of the two agencies would create economies, improve efficiency and communication between staff and management, the report states.

To improve security, the study recommends that Branch require identification and a security deposit from members of the public seeking to review files and that he remove confidential material from the files before public access is granted.

Some county officials who requested anonymity said the management study is one of the harshest and, at the same time, most constructive management studies they have seen.

Branch Sends Letter

The Board of Supervisors is expected to order Branch and the county administrative office to work out an implementation schedule for the recommendations when the board formally receives the management study for filing at Tuesday’s regularly scheduled supervisors’ meeting.

Meanwhile, Branch said he has already sent a letter to county supervisors pledging his cooperation and stating that he has already accepted Acting County Administrative Officer Larry J. Holms’ offer of additional people to begin implementing some of the recommendations.

Board Chairman Thomas F. Riley acknowledged that he had received Branch’s letter and praised the clerk-recorder for his “quick response “ and “positive attitude.”

Riley said he had not yet read the management study.