Week in Review : MAJOR EVENTS, IMAGES AND PEOPLE IN ORANGE COUNTY NEWS. : COUNTY : Environmental Agency Director Quits, Cites Clash With Parrish
After more than a year of escalating tension between two of the county’s top officials, Murray I. Storm, head of the powerful Environmental Management Agency, announced he will resign because of an inability to work with Chief Administrative Officer Larry Parrish.
Storm, a 30-year county government veteran and EMA chief since 1980, said in a letter to the Orange County Board of Supervisors that in recent months “I have come cross-wise with our CAO.”
Top county officials, including Parrish, were “flabbergasted” by the sudden resignation of the 61-year-old EMA chief, who was a top runner-up among nine finalists for the CAO position last year.
Storm tendered his resignation last Monday, and by Tuesday developers upset with the EMA took advantage of Storm’s announcement to push for a full-scale study of the agency that regulates their business.
The EMA plays a key role in planning and development decisions and has regulatory responsibilities, including enforcement of environmental rules. It provides many of the services for unincorporated communities that city governments do for their residents and oversees the activities of developers building housing tracts on vacant land.
Storm gave the county a 90-day notice. With pending vacation time, he will not officially leave the agency until the beginning of next year.
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