COUNTYWIDE : Panel Begins Review of CAO Applications

Shelving plans for a national search to find a new county chief executive, a committee began meeting behind closed doors Thursday afternoon to review applications from about a dozen top county officials for the job of chief administrative officer.

In addition, the county is also reviewing proposed changes that could mean a more powerful chief administrative office and a more streamlined county government, interviews indicated Thursday.

In a letter to fellow board members late last month, Chairman Thomas F. Riley suggested that the county review the role of the chief administrative officer and look at past studies on the office.

Supervisor Don R. Roth on Thursday seemed to echo the concerns raised in a 1987 report from the Orange County Grand Jury, which concluded that the CAO lacked the authority over other agencies needed to develop “big picture” plans.

Roth said the county needs a chief administrator who could propose and carry out long-range and cohesive solutions to the county’s health care and transportation needs, instead of dealing with them on a piecemeal “crisis” basis. The board’s decision to look within its own ranks reflected, in part, the belief that the county needs a nuts-and-bolts administrator who knows the county’s inner workings, Roth said.

“I’m not looking for a public relations administrator,” Roth said. “I think we need to get a handle on the financial situation, which is bleak right now. We run into a crisis every year.

“We need someone who can give us a strong basis of planning for the future, who can tell us where we’ve been.”

The search committee is made up of Roth, Riley, current CAO Larry Parrish and Russ Patton, personnel director for Orange County. Roth said they would talk to each of the candidates who had applied and hoped to complete the interviews by late Friday.

Among candidates prominently named for the job are Associate CAO John Sibley, Fire Chief Lawrence J. Holms, Transportation Commission Director Stanley T. Oftelie, Environmental Management Agency Director Ernie Schneider, General Services Agency Deputy Director Robert G. Love and GSA Purchasing Director Ronald S. Rubino.

Holms could not be reached late Thursday. The others confirmed they are candidates but said they had not yet heard from the search committee.

The search committee is expected to recommend several candidates to the Board of Supervisors, which will make the final selection.

Parrish announced his resignation last month to become a lobbyist with the firm that represents Orange County in Sacramento. He originally said he would step down Nov. 17 but has agreed to remain in office until Dec. 7. County officials said they hope to have the search completed by then.