ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Unsung Excellence

One of the lesser-known offices on the June ballot is that of public administrator, a county position in which the incumbent, William A. Baker, has done a good job and served the public well.

The public administrator is assigned by judges to administer the estates of those who die without wills or known heirs. The office also helps administer the estates when those who stand to inherit request help.

Few voters know of the public administrator’s office. That has not always been the case: About 30 years ago Orange County’s public administrator was convicted of embezzlement and sent to prison. It’s a position requiring someone who can be trusted to work in the people’s interest out of the limelight.

The post of public administrator is one of three county jobs held by Baker, but it is the only one for which he must face the voters. The Board of Supervisors appointed him as head of the county Community Services Agency and as public guardian, who acts as conservator of the affairs of the mentally ill. These jobs pose no conflict, and he appears to have done all of them well.

Baker was an accountant and staffer in the county administrative office before becoming public administrator in 1985, experience that has served him well. He wisely has used a combined accounting staff for the public guardian and public administrator jobs.

Neither of Baker’s opponents has experience in estates, accounting or a position of fiduciary responsibility. Baker deserves reelection.