Board Balks at Escalating Defense Bills for Officials

SANTA ANA —  Expressing concern over the escalating cost of defending three top county officials, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday rejected a request to double one official’s spending cap to $500,000 and instead approved a more modest increase of $50,000.

The move means that taxpayers will cover at least $300,000 in legal bills for Auditor-Controller Steve E. Lewis, who along with Supervisors William G. Steiner and Roger R. Stanton faces willful misconduct charges for failing to prevent the county’s December 1994 bankruptcy.

Lewis ran up $247,000 in legal bills from Dec. 20 to March 31 and had sought to have his spending limit increased from $250,000 to $500,000. But the board was willing to provide only a fraction of that amount, making it likely that Lewis will seek additional funds fairly soon.

Steiner and Stanton are expected to hit the original $250,000 cap within the next month and return to the board for increases.

Some supervisors criticized Tuesday’s decision, saying it forces the board to reconsider the divisive and emotional issue again in the near future.

“This guarantees that the theater will continue,” said Stanton, referring to the tense atmosphere that usually accompanies the topic.

But other supervisors said it is their duty to tightly monitor the legal expenses and consider each request carefully.

“It’s just a terribly frustrating and difficult position to be placed in,” Supervisor Marian Bergeson said. “At the same time, there is certainly a responsibility to the taxpayers to ensure that every conceivable effort is made to limit costs.”

Bergeson said she is reluctant to provide the three officials with substantial increases in defense funds while their trials are not scheduled to begin until September. Some estimate that the total costs of defending Steiner, Stanton and Lewis could total as much as $2 million.

Bergeson called on the three officials to control their legal costs as much as possible. “I want to feel . . . comfortable that there are really some sincere efforts to contain these simply exorbitant costs,” she said.

Supervisor Don Saltarelli also raised concerns about having taxpayers foot the hefty legal bills, though he disagreed with Bergeson on the best way to handle the issue.

“I’m one that is becoming increasingly frustrated with the way that the taxpayers seem to be getting screwed on both sides of this thing,” he said, referring both to the defense bills and the costs of prosecuting the case.

Instead of establishing a new spending cap for Lewis, Saltarelli suggested that county officials review bills and make payments once they determine that the charges are fair and comply with a list of rules that attorneys agreed to earlier this year.

Under the rules, attorneys are paid as much as $295 per hour, which county officials said is less than what they normally charge. They are required to break down their charges to the tenths of hours and bill for only one attorney when more than one attends a hearing.

“I’m not sure I want to place more arbitrary limits,” Saltarelli said. “I’d rather approve expenses incrementally as they come in.”

After much debate, the five board membersvoted unanimously to extend Lewis’ cap to $300,000, though some members said the action is only a temporary solution.

Steiner said he was unhappy with the results because the board will now have to revisit the issue in the near future, taking time and energy away from other matters facing the county.

“I think this detracts from working together on a variety of important public policy decisions,” he said after the meeting. “It dominates the scene . . . [and] frays relationships.”

Despite the bills, Steiner said he is doing all he can to keep costs down, including personally covering $28,000 in legal expenses he incurred before the board agreed to pay for his defense on Dec. 20.

Steiner said he was eager for a jury to hear his case. “It’s not my intention to have this hanging over my head,” he said. “I don’t feel there is one juror who will feel that I willfully tried to hurt the county.”

In other action Tuesday, the board postponed until June a decision on whether to place a measure on the November ballot that would limit supervisors to two consecutive four-year terms in office.

Bergeson and Steiner expressed support for the idea while Stanton and Supervisor Jim Silva expressed reservations. Saltarelli said he has yet to decide how he’ll vote.

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* JUDGE OKS SEC DEAL

Terms of settlement with Citron and Raabe approved. B5