Irvine : Review of Report on Officials Postponed

Council members have delayed until Tuesday their closed-session review of an outside consultant’s report completed last week on the role of top city officials in connection with the city’s investment in the failed county bond pool.

Former Democratic congressional candidate Gary Kingsbury said he plans to present recall notices to Mayor Michael Ward and council members Barry J. Hammond and Paula Werner at Tuesday’s council meeting. He had delayed the recall campaign in anticipation of the report and is critical that it has not been made public.

“I don’t understand why they did this report if they weren’t going to release it to the public,” Kingsbury said. “I thought that was the whole point of the thing.”

Kingsbury vowed to launch the recall drive unless the council fired City Manager Paul O. Brady Jr. and Finance Director Jeff Niven. Council members said it would be premature to fire anyone before the report was concluded.

The three council members targeted for recall voted last summer to borrow $62 million for an additional investment in the county pool after they were assured by Niven that the investment was safe. Council members Christina L. Shea and Greg Smith voted against the plan.

The report, conducted by the Price Waterhouse accounting firm, covers the actions of city officials from 1989, when the city first invested in the county pool, through the Dec. 6 bankruptcy. Shea said she expects only a summary of the report will be made public initially due to concerns over potential litigation. Irvine had $209 million in the county pool Dec. 6.

But Shea and other council members say the report underscores their long-held belief that reorganization of the city’s Finance Department is needed.

“From my own evaluation of past experience with staff, I will propose a revamping of the Finance Department,” Shea said. “I think that’s crucial.”

Smith declined to say if the report would lead to the firing of any city officials.

“It’s hard to say if any changes are going to be forthcoming based on the conduct of any employee,” Smith said. “There may be changes that would have come anyway to make us more efficient.”