Orange County Ally Drops Recovery Bills : Bankruptcy: Sen. William Craven, who sponsored key measures, says he has not gotten county’s cooperation.

A state lawmaker Wednesday dropped several key bills designed to assist Orange County with its bankruptcy recovery plans, citing frustrations with the county’s failure to provide information and assistance to push the measures quickly.

Sen. William A. Craven (R-Oceanside), a moderate who had been among Orange County’s strongest allies as it tries to climb out of its financial crisis, blasted the county in a letter to county Chief Executive Officer William J. Popejoy.

Although the bankruptcy has been a “paramount concern” for state lawmakers, Craven said, the county has failed to help speed legislation needed to avoid defaulting on more than $1 billion in bond payments coming due this summer.

“I realize that the county may still feel that it is in a state of crisis, but I realize as well that your legislative efforts need to be considerably improved and better coordinated than they have been to date,” Craven said in the terse letter, which caught Popejoy and other county officials by surprise. “I’ve expressed my frustrations repeatedly and have found that despite assurances to the contrary, little has changed.”

Craven, whose district includes a large swath of south Orange County, said he will be “focusing my legislative efforts elsewhere, and recommend that you seek an author other than myself for those bills you deem essential to the county’s financial recovery.”

Popejoy immediately phoned Craven after he received the letter and apologized for any miscommunications, said Paul Nussbaum, a Popejoy adviser. Popejoy asked Craven to reconsider, pledging that the county would do all it could to assist him, Nussbaum said.

“It’s very unfortunate and an issue of miscommunication and lack of coordination on our part,” said Nussbaum. “We are disappointed by the letter and we’re disappointed it was critical of our legislative efforts. But this legislation is too important for us to not attempt to improve our communications with Sen. Craven.”

Popejoy did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Craven has been carrying several bills on the county’s behalf, including a critical measure that would allow the county to avoid state environmental reviews of a trash hauling plan designed to yield $360 million in revenue. The lawmaker had been expected to introduce a bill this week to help cement financing arrangements needed to assuage the concerns of Wall Street firms that the county will solicit for financing.

Dennis Carpenter, Orange County’s lobbyist in Sacramento, characterized Craven’s decision to drop the legislation as “a bump on a ride downhill that’s been a series of bumps.” But he expressed optimism that new authors could be found for Craven’s bills.

Craven declined to talk at length about the letter, saying that “we can only do so much.”

Another Orange County lawmaker, who declined to be identified, called Craven’s decision “a big black eye for the county” and the latest sign of a growing split between the county’s state delegation and leaders of county government.

Last month, the Orange County delegation sent a stinging letter to Popejoy, voicing similar concerns about a lack of communication by the county. In addition, several of the county’s state lawmakers have voiced strong opposition to the Board of Supervisors’ decision to hold a June 27 special election on a half-cent sales tax increase.

Craven’s top aide said that the senator has been troubled for weeks about the county’s recovery plan and the lack of any concrete contingency plans, as well as the inability to keep the 10-member legislative delegation up to speed on the recovery efforts.

“We’ve made repeated requests for information, the last a few weeks ago when we asked what has been done by the county to raise revenues in ways other than the half-cent sales tax increase,” said Scott Johnson, Craven’s chief of staff. “If they’re going to sell the sales tax, they not only have to sell the voters but also the legislators up here.”

Other officials suggested that Craven may have felt political pressure from constituents in San Juan Capistrano, which would see an increase in truck traffic leading to a dump site if a plan to import trash from San Diego, Los Angeles and other counties got the green light without the usual environmental reviews.

San Juan Capistrano Councilman Gil Jones said he was angry with Craven because the trash measure would have had a “disastrous” effect on one of the few cities that did not put its money in the county investment pool.

Irvine City Manager Paul O. Brady Jr., a vocal opponent of the trash measure, said he believes that public pressure may have been behind Craven’s decision.

“There is enough concern in Orange County with respect to the impact, that this was probably brought about by the pressure,” he said. “(Craven) probably heard from his constituency that this was not in our best interest.”

Times staff writer Rene Lynch contributed to this report.