Schneider’s Removal Hailed and Criticized

While some business leaders and recall proponents on Monday hailed the removal of County Administrative Officer Ernie Schneider as a key step toward solvency, others across Orange County were saddened, asking whether the Board of Supervisors cashiered its chief executive to appease the public.

“Is Ernie Schneider being made a scapegoat for this? That question needs to be asked,” said Huntington Beach City Councilman Ralph Bauer, a former member of the Orange County Grand Jury. “There might be reasons” for his removal, “but that question is there.”

After a day of closed-door sessions, the Board of Supervisors unanimously agreed to demote Schneider and replace him on an interim basis with Health Care Agency Director Tom Uram, a veteran county department head.

Uram, who serves on the special committee recommending budget cuts to the supervisors, has been an integral part of the county’s effort to grapple with the financial consequences of the nation’s largest municipal bankruptcy.

Schneider, 48, of San Clemente, also was given two weeks’ paid leave. What county position he will assume upon his return is uncertain. Before becoming county administrative officer, Schneider headed the Environmental Management Agency, an umbrella department that handles land use planning, the building department and parks, harbors and recreation.

Schneider’s demotion was greeted with plaudits in some quarters.

“I am satisfied. When you have a debacle like this, the person at the top should be fired whether they are guilty or not. That is how the private sector works,” said Bill Mello of Huntington Beach, a co-founder of Committees of Correspondence, a coalition of community organizations that is considering recalls against some of the supervisors.

The Committees of Correspondence, named after a Revolutionary War group formed by American patriots, has repeatedly demanded, among other things, that the supervisors fire Schneider.

But Mello said: “There are a lot of guilty people. The Board of Supervisors too. All the elected officials and Schneider are responsible. He should have known what was going on.”

Orange County business leaders responded positively, saying the board’s action signals a willingness to create a strong administrative position similar to that of a corporate chief executive with authority over all county departments.

Schneider’s departure and Uram’s appointment “doesn’t change our preference for the creation of a strong chief executive officer’s role at the county,” said Todd Nicholson, president of the Orange County Business Council, which represents 2,100 local companies.

A newly created Business Council task force on Friday recommended that supervisors appoint such a powerful executive instead of a chief administrator with limited authority over government operations.

Business leaders say they did not call for Schneider’s departure during a daylong meeting Friday with top officials from around the county.

“We didn’t discuss personalities,” Nicholson said. “We’re talking about changes in the structure of the (chief administrative officer’s) role.”

Within county government, leaders of employee organizations were disheartened by Schneider’s removal.

“It’s pretty evident to the public in Orange County there has been too much finger-pointing and too much scapegoating for the losses in the investment pool and other things that have happened in the bankruptcy,” said Orange County Employees Assn. General Manager John H. Sawyer. “I think it’s too bad. I’m not sure (Schneider) has been given a fair chance.”

Though he acknowledges he does not have all the facts, Robert MacLeod, general manager of the Assn. of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs, said: “I don’t think Ernie Schneider is the prime culprit in this thing. I think he’s done a good job.

“I don’t think it’s going to solve the problem by any stretch of the imagination to fire Ernie Schneider or force him to resign. I don’t think it’s going to be a cure-all.”

Former supervisor Thomas F. Riley was saddened by the news of Schneider’s removal. “I found Ernie to be a very effective and very strong leader in the actions I’ve observed while I was on the board,” he said.

Although saddened by the blow to Schneider and his family, John M.W. Moorlach said the demotion was appropriate because he had warned Schneider and others about the county’s risky investment pool last spring. Moorlach ran unsuccessfully in June for treasurer-tax collector against Robert L. Citron and publicly questioned Citron’s handling of the $20-billion portfolio.

“Mr. Schneider should have reacted differently to my campaign,” Moorlach said. “Instead of being defensive . . . he should have questioned whether there was any validity to my concerns. If he would have done that back in April, May, June, we would not be where we are today.”

Irvine City Manager Paul O. Brady Jr., whose city had about $205 million in the county investment pool, said he had hoped Schneider would be succeeded by someone with private-sector management experience instead of a county department head.

“They need a general to run the ship. Maybe Tom is that person. I don’t know because I don’t know him,” Brady said. “My hope was that they would have gone out and hired a CEO-type with strong management experience until they decided exactly what they were doing. With everything that has happened, they need to reinstitute some credibility.”

While Brady and other city leaders say they had a strong working relationship with Schneider before the bankruptcy, since then Brady has said he has not been able to communicate well with Schneider’s office about the bankruptcy.

An attorney who has sued the county because of the bankruptcy called the move window dressing.

“This isn’t about the CAO,” said Joseph Cotchett, a San Francisco-based attorney who represents bondholders in a class-action lawsuit triggered by the bankruptcy. “This is about management and control. The county needs a strong, take-charge kind of person who’s got the power to get things done. The problem Orange County has is that the county has to make cuts and do it quick. You need someone who’s fast and qualified to do that.”

Times correspondent Shelby Grad and staff writers Mark Landsbaum and Greg Johnson contributed to this report.