County Fire Chief Englund Will Retire

Los Angeles County Fire Chief John W. Englund, whose department has been hard-hit by a year-old embezzlement scandal, announced Monday that he plans to retire Nov. 1 after 33 years of service, including four as chief.

The 57-year-old county forester and fire warden said he informed members of the Board of Supervisors on Friday of his intentions.

On Thursday, Englund had reported to the supervisors on the Fire Department’s progress in reorganizing its financial management systems.

At that time, Englund estimated that it will take “up to a year” to fully implement fiscal controls adopted since last August, when investigators reported that hundreds of thousands of dollars had been stolen by using a petty cash fund maintained by the Fire Department.

“I am confident that with the improvements that have been made to our fiscal operation, the chances for a similar occurrence in the future have been greatly reduced,” Englund said.

After a lengthy investigation by the Sheriff’s Department, William Paternostro, 40, a civilian accountant, was charged in June with embezzling $526,663 from 1982 until 1987.

Payments for Fire Department services were allegedly funneled through a revolving petty cash account, maintained by the department at the F&A; Credit Union, 5051 3rd St., into private bank accounts. The credit union serves county firefighters.

“The department was stunned to learn that such an embezzlement could have occurred,” Englund told supervisors. “Therefore, we have made a major commitment to do whatever possible to prevent such an occurrence in the future.”

Acting on recommendations of the county auditor-controller’s office, Englund said the reorganization of the fiscal division will include a compliance and rates section to conduct ongoing internal audits of all financial systems.

Also, he said, a system has been developed by the county to provide direct collection and deposit of payments for all Fire Department services, eliminating the need for department personnel to handle much cash or checks.

Englund said Monday he started thinking about retirement about a year ago. But after the embezzlement scandal surfaced, the chief said he thought that “it would be totally unfair” to leave until a fiscal audit had been completed and weaknesses identified.

“Now,” he said, “it is just time.”