Leaves Are Big Expense for D.A.

Since taking office in 1999, Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas has suspended workers for 1,602 days with full pay and benefits, a $740,000 expense that the chairman of the county supervisors called a major concern in light of the budget crisis.

The district attorney has suspended 14 workers -- attorneys, investigators and clerical staff -- and kept them on the payroll for the equivalent of six full work years, according to records compiled by Jan Walden, director of the county’s human resources department.

Also, two employees who were fired by Rackauckas were ordered reinstated with back pay estimated at $600,000 by their attorneys. That brings to more than $1.34 million the salary and benefits paid or owed to district attorney employees for not working.

Tom Wilson, chairman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, said the numbers are so alarming that he plans to talk to both Rackauckas and Walden about his concerns.

Wilson said administrative leave should be used to keep workers off the job during investigations but should not drag on for months. He said the numbers are particularly troubling because Rackauckas has told the Board of Supervisors he needs additional funding.

“It certainly raises my eyebrows,” Wilson said. “He’s claiming he’s going to be broke soon, [and] $700,000 is nothing to sneeze at. We will be prepared to discuss these issues when the budget discussions come up.”

Employees were placed on leave for a variety of reasons, including allegations of insubordination, violating office policies and mishandling investigations. However, many of those suspended said they were targeted because of political differences with Rackauckas.

Rackauckas declined to discuss the issue.

In February, he told the Board of Supervisors that his office is facing a serious budget shortfall that has left him unable to fill 13 vacant prosecutor positions.

“We don’t have any extra. We don’t have any fat,” he said.

The bulk of the paid administrative leave involves three employees, investigators Barry Foye and Lyle Wilson and Deputy Dist. Atty. Randy Payne.

Wilson was placed on administrative leave after Rackauckas accused him of mishandling an investigation involving Patrick Di Carlo, a close friend and political contributor to the district attorney. Rackauckas accused Wilson of continuing the investigation after he was ordered off the case and of talking about the matter with news media in violation of office policy.

Wilson received his full salary and benefits for nearly two years -- about $200,000 -- before Rackauckas fired him in December.

Rackauckas also suspended Wilson’s former supervisor, Foye, accusing both of mishandling evidence in the Di Carlo case. Foye spent more than a year on paid leave -- an expense to the district attorney’s office of more than $100,000 -- before he was ordered reinstated in 2002. He retired shortly after his reinstatement.

“It was a waste of the taxpayers’ money,” Foye said. “In the 413 days I was off, not once was it ever explained to me why I was placed on administrative leave. It ought to be sending a message to the county administrators and the people who hold the purse strings that this guy has a problem with office management.”

Payne has been paid $75,000 in salary and benefits since he was placed on leave in October amid questions about the way he resolved some cases. He said a superior told him she was concerned about his handling of a case involving a man who briefly became a suspect in the disappearance of Utah teen Elizabeth Smart. The man was later cleared in the Smart case.

Payne, a sex crimes prosecutor with the office more than 10 years, said he hasn’t heard from his superiors since November. He has no idea when, or if, they are planning to allow him to return to work. Payne has used the free time to work on his house and spend more time with his family but said the uncertainty of his job status has “turned my life upside down.”

“This is taxpayers’ money, and they’re wasting it at a time like this,” Payne said. “If I’ve done something bad, fire me.”

Under county policy, employees can be placed on paid administrative leave for longer than three weeks only if it is deemed to be “in the best interest of the county,” said county spokeswoman Diane Thomas. Extended suspensions must be approved by the director of the county’s human resources department, she said.

Wilson said he wants to know why Rackauckas has suspended employees for so long. “If there are serious allegations, then you take action. You don’t sit around waiting for things to happen,” he said. “You have to act quickly on these things so the people who are affected know what their status is.”

These concerns come 10 months after the county grand jury issued a report criticizing Rackauckas’ management of the office. Among dozens of recommendations, the panel suggested that the district attorney be stripped of his power to make personnel decisions, saying he improperly based employment decisions on politics and perceived loyalty of workers. Rackauckas defended his work in a response to the grand jury report and declined to impose the recommendations.

A county watchdog said he is concerned to hear about the district attorney’s use of paid leave.

“This is an incredible waste of taxpayer money at a time where county financial resources are scarce,” said Bill Mitchell, an Orange County good government advocate and past director of the county’s Common Cause chapter. “This loss of these people’s jobs undermines the effectiveness of the criminal justice system in Orange County.”

Payne, the prosecutor who is still on leave, said he has tried to find a bright side to his situation. “My yard has never looked better. The flowers are blooming. There’s a fresh coat of paint on my house,” he said. “I’ve even had time to do some work at my neighbors’ houses.”