The source of their conundrum is that they’ve recently voted to strip their Public Guardian of his responsibilities. However, John Williams is also an elected official, and while his duties may have been slashed, state law prevents his pay from being cut, too.
So while Mr. Williams has said he will retire in January, the County is looking to immediately hire a new Public Guardian. This will leave the county paying for both men to do the work of only one.
The Board of Supervisors has said that getting Mr. Williams out of office three years early will ultimately save taxpayers money, but for now, they have a second salary to fund.
From the Orange County Register:
Despite being stripped of nearly every duty belonging to the county’s public guardian, John S. Williams will continue to receive his full paycheck, the Watchdog has learned.
In fact, the County of Orange will soon be paying two people to head the county’s public guardian agency – Williams and an executive manager.
Williams, who has been hounded by accusations of mismanagement and asked by the Board of Supervisors to resign, will not be allowed to do anything except sign his name on official court documents.
Everything else – from hiring and firing personnel, overseeing the day-to-day operations, making budget decisions, and overhauling the troubled agency’s culture – will be handed to the yet-to-be-hired executive manager.
Read the full article here.