E Phillip Hale

District attorney investigators have begun questioning San Juan Capistrano officials about three former administrators who obtained tens of thousands of dollars in allegedly improper retirement benefits over the last five years. Capistrano Valley Water District General Manager Ray Auerbach said last week that investigators asked him about the salary and benefits paid to former General Manager James S. Mocalis, former Assistant Manager E. Phillip Hale and former water board attorney James S.

District attorney investigators have begun questioning San Juan Capistrano officials about three former administrators who obtained tens of thousands of dollars in allegedly improper retirement benefits over the last five years. Capistrano Valley Water District General Manager Ray Auerbach said last week that investigators asked him about the salary and benefits paid to former General Manager James S. Mocalis, former Assistant Manager E. Phillip Hale and former water board attorney James S.

The Orange County Retirement Board voted this week to appeal a Superior Court judge's ruling that struck down an attempt by the panel to reduce the pensions of two former San Juan Capistrano officials who are accused of improperly calculating their retirement benefits. The case involves James S. Mocalis and E. Phillip Hale, who served as top administrators of both the city of San Juan Capistrano and the Capistrano Valley Water District before retiring in the mid-1980s.

County retirement officials Monday reduced the pension check of a former San Juan Capistrano city attorney who had been incorrectly classified for more than three years as a full-time employee while he was only working part time. James S. Okazaki apparently was listed as a regular full-time employee while he worked for the city's Capistrano Valley Water District between 1984 and 1988, just after he retired as city attorney.

County retirement officials voted Monday to cut in half the pension checks of two former San Juan Capistrano city officials and said they may seek to recover thousands of dollars the men received in pension overpayments. While reducing the retirement allowance of former city officials James S. Mocalis and E. Phillip Hale, the nine-member County Board of Retirement also voted to postpone for two weeks the case of a third former San Juan Capistrano employee--James S.