Orange County will likely have a new public guardian next week, after the county removed those duties from their current public administrator.
The last several years have been tumultuous for John Williams, and included multiple grand jury reports that described his department as out of control and his managerial style as suffering egregious errors.
Unfortunately, the elected position that Mr. Williams holds is Public Administrator, an office with a four-year term that he was recently re-elected to. Since the salary of public officials cannot be reduced during his or her term, he may continued to be paid for two jobs, even though his responsibilities will be cut in half. From the Orange County Register: The Board of Supervisors earlier this month agreed to hire an executive manager to overhaul the culture of the troubled department and make immediate personnel and policy changes. Now county Chief Executive Officer Tom Mauk has proposed having that manager take over the county’s public guardian role: Overseeing the affairs of the elderly or ill who have no one to watch out for them.
County officials formally moved Wednesday to strip embattled Public Administrator John S. Williams of his public guardian duties, setting for hearing on Tuesday an ordinance that would remove Williams from his public guardian role and appoint a successor.
Supervisors will begin the discussion at their March 1 meeting. If they agree to move forward a final vote will be March 15. If the change is adopted, a new public guardian would be in place April 14.
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