Popejoy’s Legacy: Savior or Quitter? : Bankruptcy: Even critics say the outgoing Orange County chief executive set a tone for change. But his abrupt resignation has sparked debate over his legacy.

Friends and foes of William J. Popejoy agree he was a tireless worker determined to put an end to the county’s embarrassing and devastating bankruptcy. He sacrificed his heart, soul and even a paycheck, they said, to get the job done.

But his abrupt resignation after only five months on the job has sparked debate over Popejoy’s legacy as the county’s first chief executive officer.

To some, he brought a businesslike efficiency to a floundering bureaucracy. To others, he is a quitter who will be remembered for unsuccessfully promoting a half-cent sales tax as the solution to the county’s financial woes.

Even Popejoy says an argument can be made for either view.

“This is a job unfinished. And it doesn’t take talent to quit,” said Popejoy, when asked for a candid assessment of his on-the-job performance. “The report card on me should be, ‘Incomplete.’ ”

As the millionaire retired businessman heads back to the tennis courts, far from the chaotic county Hall of Administration, he says he has no regrets about pursuing Measure R, the failed tax hike proposal, and only wishes that he had had more time to try to sway voters to his way of thinking.

Popejoy announced he was stepping down last week after engaging in a power struggle with his bosses, the supervisors who tried to rein in his power and demanded greater accountability from their executive after several highly publicized clashes.

It was in stark contrast to his first few weeks on the job, when it seemed Popejoy could do no wrong, and most observers stood back in amazement at his ability to seize control so quickly of the crisis situation. But the honeymoon was over when a grim Popejoy made passage of a sales tax increase an essential element of his bankruptcy recovery plan.

“I think a lot of the accomplishments that were made have unfortunately been overshadowed by Measure R,” said Paul S. Nussbaum, a close friend who served a stint as Popejoy’s chief adviser at the county.

Shortly after assuming the experimental position of a county chief executive officer with expanded powers, Popejoy slashed the county’s discretionary spending budget by more than 40% and laid off, or eliminated the vacant positions of, nearly 1,000 county workers.

He helped shepherd key components of a bankruptcy recovery plan. Included was the settlement agreement with the nearly 200 cities, schools and government entities that had deposited billions in the county-run investment pool, which plunged $1.7 billion in value last fall, forcing the county to file for bankruptcy Dec. 6.

Other critical elements of the plan included extending $800 million in bond debt for one year and selling recovery bonds to forestall a threatened string of school bankruptcies.

Popejoy also guided a crucial slate of emergency bills through an unfriendly Legislature that at times seemed gleeful over the conservative county’s disaster.

When a vendor’s $40,000 claim against the county threatened to kill a court-approved plan to extend the debt and avoid a major default, Popejoy wrote a personal check to settle the dispute.

But some say his biggest successes may well be intangible: His vast business background soothed nervous investors who felt more comfortable with him at the helm, and with his bold desire to make county government operate more like a business.

Others are more dubious of the progress credited to Popejoy, and question whether or not such accomplishments would have occurred without him.

“There’s a lot of debate as to how much credit Bill should get,” said Supervisor William G. Steiner. “I think he set a tone for change. He brought important stature that was nonpolitical and businesslike to the process. But a number of the accomplishments, including the pool settlement, rollover of debt and sale of recovery bonds, were the work of others.”

Popejoy agrees.

“We had accomplishments,” Popejoy said, “some of which I may have helped happen. Others, I may have been given more credit for than I deserve.”

He admits that the job could not have been done without the assistance of Nussbaum, Sheriff Brad Gates, financial adviser Chris Varelas and county bankruptcy attorney Bruce Bennett.

“When you have a talent like Bennett, to put it in a sporting metaphor, you give him the ball and get the hell out of the way,” Popejoy said.

Citizen activist Bruce Whitaker said Popejoy would have been the savior of Orange County had he not tried to test the fervent anti-tax sentiment in the conservative enclave.

“He would have been a hero if he had a little more tax resistance in him, if he had listened to the people,” said Whitaker, a spokesman for the Committees of Correspondence, one of the most vocal groups fighting the tax. “Measure R is a big black eye for him.”

But to his critics, Measure R symbolized Popejoy’s stubborn determination to do things his way, or no way at all. It is a common theme that underscores his failures on the job, they say.

Popejoy adamantly insisted that there were no alternatives to the tax hike, despite supervisors’ demands that he come up with a Plan B. But after the tax’s failure, Popejoy was faced with proving his critics correct by coming up with the options he claimed were not available.

Some critics said Popejoy had the potential to be much more successful had he tried to work closely with the board--instead of appearing to relish butting heads with his bosses.

Popejoy was not shy about publicly stating that the supervisors should be part-time employees, and that some were only interested in their political survival. Popejoy even ridiculed Supervisor Jim Silva’s leadership qualities.

In the most glaring incident, a furious Popejoy went to the Orange County Grand Jury to seek the ouster of Supervisor Roger R. Stanton after the most senior board member released his own Plan B position paper, which opposed the tax and suggested a settlement amount for the county’s bankruptcy-related lawsuit against Merrill Lynch & Co.

It caused some to accuse Popejoy of engaging in the same petty politics that he criticized the board for participating in.

Gates said it would be a shame if the public holds Popejoy, and not the supervisors, ultimately responsible for Measure R and its defeat.

“Measure R was not Bill’s idea totally alone,” said Gates, who also supported the tax hike. “It’s not accurate to have Bill Popejoy as the one who championed Measure R. The policy decision to put Measure R on the ballot was made by the board.”

The most telling aspect of Popejoy’s work for the county is that even his harshest critics, such as Whitaker, say Popejoy is owed a debt of gratitude from the people of Orange County, Gates said.

“He created a strong following, even among his critics, of someone who was able to get things done,” Gates said. “I’m absolutely sure we would have been in far worse shape today without him.”

Despite Popejoy’s critics, some said history will look kindly on him.

William Mitchell, spokesman for the political watchdog group Common Cause, agreed.

“He’s a hero. We’re only going to truly appreciate him and the job he’s done when he’s gone,” Mitchell said.

“He will be most remembered for challenging the status quo,” Steiner said. “And for his brutal honesty.”