Kudos for Public Administrator

The post of public administrator is little known but important. William A. Baker has done a good job as public administrator and deserves reelection.

The public administrator protects assets of those who die without heirs or a will. In some cases, a judge also may call on the public administrator to act as executor of an estate.

Baker’s office receives about 100 referrals a month. It administers about 100 estates a year; the rest are assigned to private attorneys or county counsel.

The Board of Supervisors also has appointed Baker as public guardian and Community Services Agency director. The only one of those positions that’s elected is public administrator, which pays $22,000.

As public guardian, Baker and his staff look after people declared by judges unable to care for themselves. As community services agency head, Baker is administrator of job training programs, veterans’ services and senior citizen programs.

Baker worked as an accountant and staffer in the county administrative office before becoming public administrator in 1985. He deserves credit for ensuring that outside lawyers were used to protect estates after the bankruptcy.

After the December 1994 financial disaster, some county officials raised the possibility of using assets of estates temporarily to help with bankruptcy relief. The county counsel, as a possible beneficiary of any assistance to the county, had a conflict of interest, so hiring outside attorneys was the proper way to protect heirs of those who died without wills. All funds in estates remained intact.

Baker’s jobs of public administrator and public guardian have become increasingly important as life expectancies increase and senior citizens accumulate more assets.

Baker’s opponent, Kris Beard, works in the county’s Health Care Agency and has some good ideas about how to operate the public administrator’s office. But Baker has done a good job in the post and deserves reelection.