James S Okazaki

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 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.

Two key figures in the criminal investigation of a 1988 Laguna Niguel land transfer spent several hours Wednesday voluntarily testifying before the Orange County Grand Jury. Against the advice of their attorney, former Laguna Niguel Community Services District manager James S. Mocalis and former district board attorney James S. Okazaki carried enlarged copies of development maps and boxes of documents as they entered the grand jury witness room in the County Courthouse.

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.

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.

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's investigators are examining contradictory documents that raise new questions about whether Laguna Niguel officials approved a 1988 transaction that deeded 96 acres of potential parkland to a housing developer, city officials say. One is a resolution indicating that the Laguna Niguel Community Services District board approved the land deal by a 4-0 vote on Jan. 20, 1988, with then-president Patricia Bates absent.

County retirement officials are investigating whether tens of thousands of dollars in government benefits were improperly paid during the last three years to a former city manager and a former city attorney of San Juan Capistrano. James S. Mocalis, 59, and James S. Okazaki, 63, acknowledged last week that officials with the Orange County Employees Retirement System have challenged the size of their monthly retirement checks and asked them to justify the amounts at a hearing Monday.

The novice Laguna Niguel City Council showed that it could make a tough decision last week when it voted to impose a moratorium on further construction of homes on a disputed portion of the Marina Hills development. A moratorium is essential to preserve the status quo until it is clear how 96 acres of land intended for open space ended up in the hands of a developer, Taylor Woodrow Homes California Ltd.

City Councilman Paul M. Christiansen said Thursday that he has been asked to testify before an Orange County Grand Jury panel being convened to investigate a transaction in which public control over 96 acres of open space was deeded to a developer. Christiansen, a critic of the transaction, said district attorney investigators asked him to appear before the panel on Oct. 16. He was a member of the Laguna Niguel Community Service District board in 1988, when then-vice president James F.

Two key figures in the criminal investigation of a 1988 Laguna Niguel land transfer spent several hours Wednesday voluntarily testifying before the Orange County Grand Jury. Against the advice of their attorney, former Laguna Niguel Community Services District manager James S. Mocalis and former district board attorney James S. Okazaki carried enlarged copies of development maps and boxes of documents as they entered the grand jury witness room in the County Courthouse.

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.

County retirement officials are investigating whether tens of thousands of dollars in government benefits were improperly paid during the last three years to a former city manager and a former city attorney of San Juan Capistrano. James S. Mocalis, 59, and James S. Okazaki, 63, acknowledged last week that officials with the Orange County Employees Retirement System have challenged the size of their monthly retirement checks and asked them to justify the amounts at a hearing Monday.

District attorney's investigators are examining contradictory documents that raise new questions about whether Laguna Niguel officials approved a 1988 transaction that deeded 96 acres of potential parkland to a housing developer, city officials say. One is a resolution indicating that the Laguna Niguel Community Services District board approved the land deal by a 4-0 vote on Jan. 20, 1988, with then-president Patricia Bates absent.

After a fiery meeting, the Laguna Niguel City Council this morning voted to go to court in a bid to void a 1988 transaction that gave up public rights to nearly 100 acres once planned for parkland. Emerging from a 3 1/2-hour executive session shortly after 1 a.m., the council voted 4 to 0 to halt further development on the property and to sue Taylor Woodrow Homes California Ltd. for damage caused by the luxury homes already built on the land.

Taylor Woodrow President Gordon Tippell assured more than 100 concerned Marina Hills residents Wednesday evening that their homes were safe despite threatened legal action by the Laguna Niguel City Council to reclaim the property on which their houses are built. "I think its all hypothetical," Tippell said, adding that when the City Council "fully understands the evidence" it will drop its move to take legal action against the company.