OCTA Hires Rubino as Financial Consultant

Ronald S. Rubino, the former county budget director accused of criminal wrongdoing related to the Orange County bankruptcy, has been selected as a financial consultant for the Orange County Transportation Authority.

Officials said Rubino is helping develop a “mid-range” financial study of agency revenue and expenses. He will earn $9,700 under the contract, which began in December and ends in late February.

“I’ve known Ron for a long time. He’s done great work. He’s a very talented guy,” said Stan Oftelie, OCTA’s chief executive officer. “It’s a good fit. He’ll do this one project with us. As competition for [another job] comes up, he can compete for that if he wants.”

Rubino was indicted in 1995 on felony charges for allegedly falsifying county records and helping former Treasurer-Tax Collector Robert L. Citron divert into a county account some $100 million in interest belonging to government agencies that placed money in a county-run investment pool. A jury last fall deadlocked 9-3 in favor of acquitting Rubino, who denied any wrongdoing.

In October, he pleaded “no contest” to a single misdemeanor charge under an agreement that will allow him to change the plea to “not guilty” later this year and have the charge erased from his record.

Oftelie and other OCTA officials said they didn’t consider the bankruptcy charges an issue in their decision to hire Rubino.

“No one has questioned Mr. Rubino’s qualifications on budget matters,” said OCTA spokesman John Standiford, noting that the agency awards $29 million in consultant contracts annually. “We are talking about a very small amount.”

Buena Park Mayor Art Brown, a member of OCTA’s board of directors, said he saw no problem with the selection.

“He got his,” Brown said of Rubino. “I don’t believe in keeping someone from ever working again.”

But some community activists said they were troubled by the action.

“I have to question whether this is a wise thing to do,” said Bob Ault, a member of the anti-tax group Committees of Correspondence. “I shouldn’t be surprised. All these people involved in the bankruptcy seem to get their nests re-feathered.”

Rubino said Friday that he first approached OCTA about using his services last year after hearing that the agency’s financial department was short-staffed. Officials suggested that he and another consultant, Jack Stranberg, submit a proposal for the mid-range budget study.

The project involves measuring and analyzing budgets, bus ridership figures and other data to gauge the productivity and performance of the agency, said Rubino, who frequently works out of OCTA’s headquarters in Orange.

“I act like an internal staff person, but [only] for this one project,” he said. “I assist the team members and train them how to do this themselves.”

Rubino said he intends to bid for the second phase of the financial study and is also offering his services to cities and other government agencies struggling to implement Proposition 218, which invalidates

Ronald S. Rubino

certain types of property tax assessments.

“City financial directors have been extremely supportive,” he added. “My friends are still my R

friends and still believe in me. I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback.”

Under his plea agreement, Rubino must perform 100 hours of community service and serve two years of unsupervised probation. His legal defense bills topped $600,000, but the Board of Supervisors agreed to pay the costs.

Standiford said Rubino was chosen for the contract in part because he completed a performance audit of OCTA a few years ago when working for an auditing firm.

OCTA Chairman Robert P. Wahlstrom said Friday he wasn’t aware of Rubino’s contract.

“It’s something certainly I want to learn more about,” said Wahlstrom, a Los Alamitos councilman. “It’s one thing if it is a short-term contract. But if this is something more long-term, I would have to examine it.”