Orange County’s Public Administrator, John Williams, is elected and cannot be removed from office by the Board of Supervisors. However, that might not keep him from being run out of town.
In March, Williams made a deal with the Supervisors: he would resign his office effective January 16, 2012. His resignation – eventual as it may have been – would then free up the cost of his salary of more than $150,000 per year. It’s money that he’s been earning for no work, as the Board of Supervisors had already stripped him of his duties and hired an administrator to act as a de facto public administrator.
In other words, Williams simply wanted and extra $150,000 before quitting. Now that the county has paid their portion and maintained their end of the bargain, Williams is reneging. He showed up for work despite the locks being changed. Now, the county counsel has sent him a letter notifying him not to return to the office.
How it will go from here remains to be seen.
From the Voice of the OC:
Last March, Orange County’s besieged public administrator, John Williams, avoided political execution by agreeing with the Board of Supervisors to retire on Monday.
But despite that agreement — and an order to change the locks on his office door — Williams showed up for work anyway.
On Tuesday, he was officially told not to come back.
Read the full article here.