Board Boosts Defense Fund for Auditor

After twice rejecting his pleas for more money, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted to more than double the defense spending cap of Auditor-Controller Steve E. Lewis, the only remaining county official facing bankruptcy-related charges.

The 3-2 decision provides Lewis with up to $665,800 in defense costs, up from the previous cap of $300,000 established earlier this year. Lewis has already accumulated legal bills totaling $550,000.

The embattled auditor, who faces misconduct charges for failing to prevent the $1.64-billion bankruptcy, said the money should cover most of his legal costs and vowed not to seek additional funds until his case has been resolved.

“I’m very appreciative of the board. They made the right public policy decision,” said Lewis, who intends to serve out the two years remaining on his term. “I’m confident that we will be successful in court.”

In October, the board refused to increase Lewis’ spending cap in an apparent bid by some board members to force him to resign. Lewis has been faulted for failing to detect problems in the county treasurer’s office that contributed to the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.

But when Marian Bergeson resigned as supervisor last month to take a top education job in Sacramento, the board lost its most outspoken critic of Lewis. Bergeson’s replacement, Thomas W. Wilson, voted with supervisors William G. Steiner and Roger R. Stanton to grant the additional funds.

The board action comes two weeks after a state appeals court dismissed similar misconduct charges against Steiner and Stanton. Lewis’ new cap will be derived from Steiner’s and Stanton’s unspent legal funds. The total amount the county has spent defending current and former officials against bankruptcy charges remains at about $1.7 million.

Nonetheless, one critic at Tuesday’s meeting blasted the board decision, saying Lewis doesn’t deserve a taxpayer-sponsored defense.

“This is a decision to keep Steve Lewis on political life support,” complained Fullerton activist W. Snow Hume. “If you grant more legal funds, you are telling the public that . . . he wasn’t derelict” in his duties.

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Hume noted that the board stripped Lewis of some of his auditing duties in the aftermath of the bankruptcy. The county recently hired a director of internal audits to handle those functions.

Supervisor Jim Silva, who along with Supervisor Don Saltarelli voted against the request, said he couldn’t see spending more money to defend Lewis, regardless of the circumstances.

“This unspent [legal] money doesn’t belong to these two officials,” Silva said, referring to Stanton and Steiner. “It belongs to the taxpayers.”

But the other supervisors argued that as a county employee, the auditor deserves an adequate defense.

Wilson, who emerged as the swing vote, said he wrestled with the decision but concluded that “it is prudent to transfer the unspent funds to Mr. Lewis’ defense.”

Lewis’ attorney sought the $665,800 because it is equal to the amount the board provided to former budget director Ronald S. Rubino, who also faced bankruptcy charges.

Before the vote, Lewis said that he has been made a “scapegoat” for the bankruptcy and predicted vindication in court.

The Tuesday session was scheduled to be Stanton’s last meeting after 16 years on the board. But because of time constraints, the board decided to hold off some items until today, making this morning’s session Stanton’s last.

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In other action, the board delayed for one month a vote on a proposal to sell taxable pension obligation bonds. The nearly $200-million sale has been the topic of intense discussions for months by both supervisors and the county’s public finance review committee, which voted 3 to 2 in favor of the plan.

Some supervisors, asking to study the matter further, expressed concerns about taking out an extra $200 million in debt just six months after the county emerged from bankruptcy and sold $800 million in bonds to pay off creditors.

But county finance experts worried Tuesday that the delay could make it more difficult to sell the bonds.

The board also gave enthusiastic approval to a library reorganization plan designed to place the troubled 28-branch system on a more stable financial footing and give communities served by the system a stronger voice in operations.

The plan cuts overhead costs, resulting in more operating hours from branches in Irvine, Laguna Niguel and Costa Mesa, and establishes an advisory board made up of representatives of cities and unincorporated communities.

* JUDICIAL FUND QUEST

Judges may try to compel Orange County to provide additional court funds. B6