COUNTYWIDE : Ruling Finalizes Supervisor’s Divorce

A Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday that Orange County Supervisor Don R. Roth should pay his ex-wife $2,100 a month in support, and that they should split proceeds from the sale of their Anaheim Hills home “to equalize the overall division of community property.”

The ruling officially concluded a divorce proceeding between the supervisor and Jacquelene M. Roth. During 15 years of marriage they were one of Orange County’s best-known political couples.

Outside the Santa Ana courtroom, Jacquelene Roth, 59, called Judge Robert J. Polis’ ruling unfair and said she would consider filing an appeal.

She had asked Polis to award her $4,000 a month in support, make her ex-husband pay the $8,000 estimated cost of her attorney, and also pay her for nearly $17,000 of her own money that she used to decorate the couple’s home. She had contended that she needed support payments because she had not worked in almost 10 years and was limited to poor-paying jobs because of her lack of training.

Don Roth, 70, had no comment after the six-hour hearing. The only witnesses during the daylong trial were the supervisor and his former wife.

The judge gave Jacquelene Roth a disputed 1978 Mercedes 450SL, valued at nearly $19,000. She said her ex-husband had given her the used Mercedes in 1988 as a gift for work she had done to help him get elected to posts in Anaheim and then to the Board of Supervisors.

Don Roth’s attorney Steven E. Briggs contended that the car was community property and should be divided equally.

Testimony Tuesday showed that the Roths kept separate bank accounts and both contributed varying amounts of their own money for the down payment on their home.

In announcing his decision, Polis said that although the couple traveled extensively when they were together and dined out a lot, they did not live lavishly. He called them a family with a lifestyle “slightly above middle class.” The price of their home in Anaheim Hills is listed at about $400,000.