Study Asked on Official’s OCTC Consulting Contract

The staff of the Orange County Transportation Commission was asked Monday to verify that a Newport Beach city councilman has actually earned $10,000 that the OCTC paid him under a recent consulting contract.

OCTC Chairman Thomas F. Riley, who is also chairman of the County Board of Supervisors, asked for the study involving Councilman John C. Cox Jr. during Monday’s OCTC meeting in Santa Ana.

“I’m satisfied that Mr. Cox has earned his bread and butter, but in the interest of the reputation of John Cox and the reputation of this commission, I felt we should take a look at it,” Riley said.

Some commission members were surprised last week to learn of Cox’s contract, although Riley said he had known about it from OCTC Executive Director Stanley T. Oftelie for some time.

Last month, Oftelie told The Times that he had hired Cox as a consultant to help achieve a consensus among the county’s 28 cities on the OCTC’s 20-year plan for transportation improvements, which would be funded partly by a proposed half-cent sales tax, and to relay any concerns raised by city officials.

Cox said Monday: “I am worth what they pay me.” He acknowledged that he never lobbied some officials about OCTC’s 20-year plan but added: “I’m also an adviser to OCTC. Quite frankly, I had to be careful not to be labeled as a spy for OCTC.” Former Fountain Valley Councilman Al Hollinden performed a similar function for OCTC in 1984, when OCTC sponsored a 1-cent sales tax measure that was defeated overwhelmingly by voters.