Top County Official Quits to Take Job as Lobbyist

County Administrative Officer Larry Parrish, the county’s top executive for the past four years, resigned Monday to take a job with the lobbying firm that represents Orange County in Sacramento.

Parrish acknowledged the frustrations of administering a government that has been strapped financially and buffeted by critics. He said he decided to leave, however, simply because “the time has come . . . for me to do some new things.”

“This November I will turn 50,” he said, “and I have always thought that milestone should mark more than just age.” Parrish will join Carpenter & Associates, whose head is former state Sen. Dennis E. Carpenter. “For me, it will mark an opportunity to work in the private sector with a good friend in a somewhat related business in Sacramento.”

Supervisors and county department heads said Monday that Parrish’s resignation came as a surprise and, although some occasionally criticized his administration, they called his departure a loss to the county.

“There have been a few times I’ve had my eyebrows raised by something he’s done, but, in general, I think he did a good job,” Supervisor Don R. Roth said. “I’ll tell you, it’s not an easy task, the demands are so great,” Roth said of the county administrative officer’s job.

Said Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez: “It will be a significant loss to the county. The CAO is in a pivotal position to help steer the county rudder in terms of administrative philosophy. Throw in his positive attitude and his good sense of humor and I think he brought . . . the needed leadership during some tough fiscal times.”

Supervisors said they will probably order a national search for a successor to Parrish, who is expected to leave his post Nov. 17. In the meantime, they are expected to appoint Assistant County Administrative Officer Murry L. Cable as acting county administrative officer.

Parrish’s tenure began in 1985. Since then, the county’s course has been marked by a struggle with problems resulting from rapid growth. Among them have been overcrowded jails and a resistance to development. The county also has faced severe financial shortages over the past several years.

The problems are, for the most part, still far from resolved.

“It does wear on you,” Parrish said Monday. “After you put so many nuts on so many wheels, sooner or later you want to get off the (assembly) line.”

Raise for Firm

Before coming to Orange County, Parrish was for five years the chief administrative officer for Santa Barbara County. He ran unsuccessfully for the state Assembly in 1976 on the Republican ticket in Santa Cruz.

Carpenter’s firm is paid about $207,000 a year to represent Orange County at the Legislature under a contract negotiated by Parrish’s office last year. The fee paid to the Carpenter firm was raised from about $14,000 to $17,250 a month last December. Parrish said, however, that there is no relation between the contract and his hiring.

“I certainly never considered working for Denny when that contract was considered,” Parrish said Monday. “It was never mentioned; it’s just not the way business is done.”

Carpenter, whose firm also represents the Orange County Transportation Commission, said Parrish will handle some legislation for Orange County and that Parrish will also work as a “generalist.”

“He will be particularly valuable because of his experience in government for the last 25 years,” Carpenter said. “He told me he . . . was ready to do something different. When I had a position, I called him.”

Parrish recently received a 9.3% pay raise, putting his salary at $129,910 a year. He is the fourth-highest-paid county administrative officer in california. Parrish declined to reveal what his salary with Carpenter’s firm will be except to say that it is more than he is making as county administrative officer and that it is “extremely adequate.”

Staff writer George Frank contributed to this report.