Decision on Top Retirement Official Delayed

After five hours of deliberations, the county’s employee retirement board on Monday delayed a decision on whether to fire administrator Mary-Jean Hackwood, who has been accused of abusing her authority by ordering employees to run personal errands.

Hackwood, who administered the county’s $2.9-billion retirement fund, addressed the nine-member board for about 30 minutes Monday with her lawyer present. The board also heard from the special counsel it hired to investigate the allegations.

“We have come close to a decision, but we don’t have it all ironed out yet,” said Thomas J. Lightvoet, chairman of the board, which oversees the investments of 20,000 current and retired government workers.

“We heard from her side . . . and we are pretty much done with the fact-finding,” Lightvoet said. “It’s really now under discussion about how the board should deal with it.”

Officials declined to provide details about the closed-session meeting or say whether the board planned to fire Hackwood, who was placed on administrative leave last month.

Hackwood said Monday evening that she could not discuss the case.

The allegations were first raised by retirement system employees in November. They asserted Hackwood charged personal calls to the county and required them to water her plants and take her to the airport for personal trips.

Hackwood also was the subject of a critical 1991 management audit that raised questions about the way she treated employees. But some board members have praised Hackwood for her sound management of the county’s retirement fund.

The board will meet again Wednesday to consider Hackwood’s future.