ORANGE COUNTY IN BANKRUPTCY : BOND TICKER : Popejoy Picks 3 Managers, Stresses Temporary Status

County Chief Executive Officer William J. Popejoy on Friday announced the appointments of three top county officials to replace veteran managers who have recently retired.

Popejoy stressed that the three new hires will work on a temporary basis.

“My reason is that I am . . . (the) interim chief executive officer and, as such, I do not believe I should make permanent appointments,” Popejoy said in a statement. “Permanent appointments should be made by the person (selected) as (the) permanent chief executive officer.”

The new appointees are:

* Jan Walden, acting director of the Human Resources Department. She previously headed the department’s Client Services Division.

* Dave Carlaw, acting chief of the Employee Relations Division. Carlaw previously served as a human resources management consultant who retired from the county in 1992.

* Robert Griffith, acting director of the General Services Agency. He was chief deputy director of the Social Services Agency.

Moorlach Reverses Citron Policy on Checks

Making good on a promise, Orange County Treasurer-Tax Collector John M.W. Moorlach requested Friday that residents omit his name when making property tax payments.

Instead, Moorlach asked that taxpayers make check payable to “Orange County tax collector.”

Moorlach’s predecessor, Robert L. Citron, had in the past insisted that taxpayers make checks out in his name.

Citron defeated Moorlach in last year’s election but was forced to resign in December after the county’s investment pool collapsed. Moorlach was appointed by the Board of Supervisors last month.

During an appointment hearing, Moorlach vowed to drop the practice of having taxpayers make their checks out in the name of the tax collector.

The second installment of property taxes are due Monday.

Silva Seeks to Cut Back Duplication of Services

As a way of recovering from the financial crisis, Supervisor Jim Silva says the county should stop duplicating services provided by other government entities.

Silva’s comments, made in a statement released Friday, comes two days after Supervisor Marian Bergeson proposed a radical restructuring plan that would effectively eliminate county government, placing key financial functions in the hands of the state and giving an elected “mayor” control of criminal justice, health care and transportation.

Under Bergeson’s proposal, other services now handled by the county would become the responsibility of the cities. All unincorporated areas would have to merge with or incorporate as cities by 1997.

While not mentioning Bergeson’s plan specifically, Silva said he was “concerned with the flurry of restructuring proposals being floated at the present time.”

Silva said that “merely shifting existing programs and services from the county to alternative and/or new bureaucracies as recently proposed does not reflect ‘true’ downsizing in the cost of government.”

Silva suggested that the county evaluate “the efficiency and effectiveness” of county spending and look for ways to eliminate services that other government entities provide.

Compiled by Shelby Grad, with Eric Bailey.