County Panel’s Travel Policy Questioned : Finances: Criticism over a recent 26-day European trip prompts some members of the retirement board to urge a re-evaluation of the policy.

Stung by criticism over a recent 26-day trip to Europe, some Orange County retirement board members said Monday that the panel should rethink its travel policy, shorten the length of some trips and limit the size of delegations sent abroad.

“My position is that we have a professional financial consultant, Mr. (Michael) O’Leary, who can recommend to us overseas managers,” said county Treasurer/Tax Collector Robert L. Citron, the only elected official to serve on the retirement board. “Certainly, he should go (on visits overseas), and the retirement manager should go, and one member of the investment committee. But four members, I don’t know.”

Citron did not participate in the April 7-May 2 European trip, which cost more than $15,000, and included the cost of opera tickets and alcoholic beverages. Those charges and some others were submitted to the county auditor by mistake, according to several board members, who have pledged to reimburse the county.

Although some board members resolutely defend the trip, they acknowledged that publicity surrounding it may force the panel to discuss changes in the way travel is handled.

“I think there will be a re-evaluation of the policy,” said board member Sara Ruckle, a senior investigator in the district attorney’s office who did not go on the Europe trip. “When it has gotten this much attention in the newspapers, you have to revisit the issue. I don’t see any way around that.”

Board Chairman Patrick C. Brunner was unavailable for comment Monday.

The board is scheduled to meet Thursday, but the agenda already has been prepared and includes no discussion of the trip that took officials to Berlin, Frankfurt, Geneva, Paris and London. While visiting those cities, board members participated in a conference and met with their overseas financial advisers.

Four members of the Orange County Retirement Board went on the trip, as did pension fund coordinator Mary-Jean Hackwood and O’Leary, an investment adviser to the board. Hackwood’s sister and one board member’s wife also accompanied the group.

Board member Thomas Lightvoet, who traveled with the group in Europe for 13 days, said he would welcome a discussion on the board’s travel policy, even though he thinks the trip was worthwhile.

“I’m not saying it was wrong, but at the same time, when you are gone for such an extended time, there’s an appearance, or you run the risk, of being misunderstood about what you’re doing,” he said.

“I would go along with reviewing the policy,” he added. “That’s an ongoing process. . . . If there are changes that need to be made, well, we should discuss them.”

The fallout from the trip has brought a rare moment in the spotlight to the normally low-profile board--which includes four members elected by county employees, four appointed by the county Board of Supervisors, and Citron, who holds a spot because of his job as county treasurer/tax collector. Several board members say they have received a number of phone calls in recent days from worried employees or retired employees asking whether such a long and costly trip was needed.

Those questions were sparked after the county’s auditor-controller, Steve E. Lewis, refused to pay about $4,500 in expenses submitted to him after the group’s return home.

Lewis wrote Hackwood last week and questioned a variety of items rung up on charge cards that are not reimbursable under county rules. Those included alcoholic beverages, hotel bills for leisure days, personal dry-cleaning tabs and hotels and meals for non-board members.

Hackwood and others say the expense forms were sent to Lewis’ office prematurely, before she and board members had a chance to review them and separate their personal charges from their business expenses.

Lewis added that he does not believe there was any attempt to defraud the county.

“I believe they intended to pay back the funds for personal purposes,” he said. “I don’t think there was ever any intention to charge us for opera tickets. Maybe their auditing procedures just aren’t that good.”

Separate from the disputed charges, however, is the issue of how long the trip lasted and the number of people who attended.

Robert Thomas, a former county administrative officer who serves on the pension board, said that while he doesn’t criticize the board members for traveling to Europe--similar trips are made to other investment managers within the United States, he said--he does not understand why they had to go for as long as 26 days.

He and other board members added that trips to visit fund managers are common and important, as they help the board members see for themselves how a particular fund is operating.

“We make these kinds of trips stateside all the time,” Thomas said. “My feeling is that had those people in charge visited Home Federal Savings & Loan more often, maybe they wouldn’t have folded.”

As the issue has divided some members of the retirement board, it has also attracted the attention of other political observers. And some have been quick to criticize the panel for what they view as an extravagant junket.

Supervisor Roger R. Stanton said he found the trip and the expense-reporting of certain items “outrageous.” He also said that while the supervisors have little control over the management of the pension funds, they at least have a say in who serves on the board.

“If that retirement board doesn’t have the courage to put a stop to this immediately and make sure this kind of internal mess is cleaned up, then those appointees whose terms are almost up are going to be under close scrutiny,” Stanton said. “I just will not cast a vote appointing anyone to this board who condones what is happening over there.”