Low Profile May Have Cost Lewis Legal Bill Help

Of the four county officials receiving public funds to defend themselves against bankruptcy-related charges, Auditor-Controller Steve E. Lewis has kept by far the lowest profile.

While former Budget Director Ronald S. Rubino heavily lobbied supervisors to pay his legal fees and assembled an army of volunteers to do legal legwork, Lewis stayed out of the spotlight. He didn’t even make a personal appeal before the board until this week.

Friends and colleagues say Lewis’ demeanor is characteristic of the 31-year county veteran who continues to quietly perform his duties despite facing the charges and a family medical crisis that threaten to plunge him deeply into debt.

But they also fear that Lewis’ inconspicuousness may have played a role in the board’s refusal last week to provide additional defense funds.

“Steve is a very introspective person. He’s not outgoing like Rubino and is reluctant to ask friends for money,” said Vic Heim, a longtime friend who served as auditor-controller from 1957 to 1984. “Unfortunately, he doesn’t come across that well when he speaks, and people tend to forget his dedication and service to the county. I think that has hurt him.”

Lewis asked the board to increase his defense spending cap from $300,000 to $500,000, but supervisors refused on a climatic 3-2 vote. The action leaves the embattled auditor with more than $200,000 in unpaid legal bills and trial still months away.

Lewis, along with Supervisors William G. Steiner and Roger R. Stanton, faces civil misconduct charges for allegedly failing to detect problems in the county treasurer’s office that contributed to the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.

On the same day it rejected Lewis’ request, the board voted to increase Rubino’s legal cap to $650,000, which will cover all his outstanding legal bills.

“It doesn’t seem like equitable treatment,” said Brian Sun, Lewis’ attorney. “Steve isn’t out there holding fund-raisers and lobbying. He’s not that kind of guy. Maybe that has been detrimental in this political environment.”

Supervisors deny that personalities played a role in their decisions, insisting that they determine each case based on its merits.

Rubino was charged with criminal conduct and faced up to nine years in prison if convicted. A jury deadlocked 9 to 3 last month in favor of acquitting Rubino. On Monday, he pleaded no contest to one misdemeanor count of falsifying a record.

Supervisors have praised Rubino’s efforts to keep the costs of his case lower by using volunteers to handle paralegal and investigative work and by holding fund-raisers.

On Tuesday, Supervisors Marian Bergeson and Jim Silva said they didn’t feel comfortable spending additional taxpayer dollars to defend Lewis and joined Don Saltarelli in denying Lewis’ request.

“The taxpayers have suffered enough with this bankruptcy,” Silva said. “There has to be a limit on the amount we spend.”

Others pointed out that the board last year stripped Lewis of many of his auditing duties in the aftermath of the bankruptcy.

As an elected official, Lewis cannot be fired by the supervisors. But some county officials said the board’s action was designed to compel Lewis to resign, a move that would make the willful misconduct charge against him moot, since the only punishment it carries is removal from office.

When the bankruptcy hit, Lewis was praised for having uncovered problems in the treasurer’s office in two internal audits. Critics later faulted him for not highlighting his concerns and for failing to uncover Citron’s risky investment practices earlier. He was also criticized for approving improper transfers within the now-failed investment pool.

Last December, the Orange County Grand Jury charged Lewis with failing to do his job.

“I think he should have resigned right then,” said Carole Walters, leader of the Committees of Correspondence, an anti-tax group that launched a brief and unsuccessful recall drive against Lewis.

“He needs to accept responsibility for what happened,” Walters added. “He was supposed to be the watchdog over the county finances and didn’t do his job. The taxpayers still pay his $104,000 salary even though he doesn’t handle audits anymore.”

Some supporters now acknowledge that Lewis could have done more but believe that he is being made a scapegoat for the bankruptcy.

County Clerk-Recorder Gary L. Granville said Lewis should have amplified his warnings about Citron’s activities in reports to the board. “He buried the warning in the text,” Granville said.

“There’s plenty of blame to go around,” Heim said. “He probably should have gone to the individual board members and said, ‘Hey, you should take a look at this.’ ”

But Heim said Lewis should not be held responsible for failing to uncover the extent of Citron’s illegal activities, many of which the former treasurer worked to keep secret.

Others note that before the bankruptcy, Citron was a powerful figure, and that those who dared question his investment practices were often accused of disloyalty or trying to harm the county’s credit rating.

Friends criticized the board for refusing to defend Lewis despite his three decades of service to the county. “The county is his life,” Granville said. “He would never do anything to harm it.”

As Lewis struggles to pay his legal bills, he is also supporting his ailing wife, who is seriously ill with kidney problems and recently underwent a second transplant.

Lewis probably won’t have to make a decision on his future until a state appeal court rules on motions to dismiss his case for lack of evidence and to recuse Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi. A ruling is expected within weeks.

In the meantime, the case is essentially on hold and legal expenses are being kept to a minimum, his attorney said.

“I don’t know how he is going to manage this. He is not a wealthy man by any stretch of the imagination,” Sun said. “He is very disappointed, but he has maintained his resolve to fight this thing.”

County officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that if Lewis resigns, he might be offered a different job with the county, and that the supervisors would consider paying his outstanding legal fees.

Such a settlement might keep Lewis from incurring heavy legal debts and allow him to maintain his family’s medical coverage. But some friends said that the auditor still deserves his day in court.

“It’s unfair in the sense that Steve might not be given the chance to have a court decide whether he was right or wrong,” Heim said. “It’s a tragic situation for him.”