Orange County Planning Department

Orange County's planning department is in "critical condition" -- employees have not been performing required safety and environmental inspections, morale is down and customer service is nearly nonexistent, according to a county performance audit released Wednesday. The 117-page review of the county's Planning and Development Services Department includes 35 findings and recommendations for improvement in all levels of the agency.

The director of Orange County Public Works announced his retirement this week after a scathing review of his planning department resulted in an official call for its overhaul. Bryan Speegle had worked for the county for more than 26 years. He became director of the public works department in January 2004 after serving as planning and development director. On Monday, he gave notice that he would retire. "He did not state his reason for his decision," said county spokesman Howard Sutter.

Re "O.C. Rehires Planner," April 19: Here we go again with the Orange County planning department. It can't survive without bringing back someone who was employed there as the cash seeped out and it went broke? Charles Caproni Costa Mesa In the interest of truth in labeling, the Orange County Planning Department needs to change its name to the O.C. Builders Department. It's outrageous that developers are so upfront about their cozy relationship with the county planning department that they openly offered to pay retired planner Pat Stanton to return to his job to speed up their project applications.

The Orange County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to create a task force that will oversee an overhaul of the planning department, after a major audit last month determined the department was in "critical condition." The 117-page review of the Planning and Development Services Department found that customer service was nearly nonexistent, and required safety and environmental inspections were not being performed.

Remembering the financial debacle that led to massive layoffs in Orange County's planning department last year, the Board of Supervisors on Wednesday approved, then froze, nearly $700,000 the department says it needs to hire temporary workers. Bryan Speegle, the department's acting director, said it needs help to deal with a backlog of about 4,000 building permits issued under the former flat-fee program.

A special master appointed by a judge to examine the Orange County planning department's beleaguered finances is biased and should be removed from his post, county attorneys have charged. Robert Mosier, a certified public accountant who was tapped last spring to conduct independent fact-finding, has recently been critical of how the Planning and Development Services department is managed.

On the day that 39 Orange County Planning Department employees were laid off, an attorney said Wednesday the agency's top ranking fiscal manager had been cleared of any wrongdoing and will return to work after four months on paid leave. The actions intensify questions about the financial crisis at the Planning Department, which faces a deficit of at least $2.5 million and continues to spend $500,000 more than it can afford each month, according to court and budget documents.

A department suddenly bleeding millions of dollars. County supervisors blindsided. Finger-pointing over who should have known what and when. This has been the scene at the Orange County Planning Department, which has lost $8 million over the last six months and in the last two weeks has laid off 20% of its staff and proposed hefty increases in building-permit fees.

The Orange County district attorney's office is examining whether Planning Commissioner C. Douglas Leavenworth violated state conflict-of-interest law by voting on matters affecting the Mission Viejo Co. after he accepted gifts from the firm, officials said Monday.

A critical internal audit released Thursday shows that Orange County planning managers did virtually nothing as the department careened toward financial crisis last year and plunged into a deficit. The county's internal auditor, Peter Hughes, also faulted budget officials at the county executive office for not questioning the financial figures provided by planning officials, figures that later proved to be wildly inaccurate.

Orange County's planning department is in "critical condition" -- employees have not been performing required safety and environmental inspections, morale is down and customer service is nearly nonexistent, according to a county performance audit released Wednesday. The 117-page review of the county's Planning and Development Services Department includes 35 findings and recommendations for improvement in all levels of the agency.

Remembering the financial debacle that led to massive layoffs in Orange County's planning department last year, the Board of Supervisors on Wednesday approved, then froze, nearly $700,000 the department says it needs to hire temporary workers. Bryan Speegle, the department's acting director, said it needs help to deal with a backlog of about 4,000 building permits issued under the former flat-fee program.

The Orange County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to convert an $8-million emergency loan it gave to the planning department last year into a grant that will never be repaid to the county. The board authorized the loan after discovering that the department was losing $500,000 a month and had depleted what was once an $18-million reserve. Layoffs and an increase in service fees have helped the department come close to balancing its budget.

Re "O.C. Rehires Planner," April 19: Here we go again with the Orange County planning department. It can't survive without bringing back someone who was employed there as the cash seeped out and it went broke? Charles Caproni Costa Mesa In the interest of truth in labeling, the Orange County Planning Department needs to change its name to the O.C. Builders Department. It's outrageous that developers are so upfront about their cozy relationship with the county planning department that they openly offered to pay retired planner Pat Stanton to return to his job to speed up their project applications.

Under intense pressure from Orange County's largest landowners, the cash-strapped county planning department has rehired a top manager who recently had been given a bonus to retire early. Pat Stanton, 56, is being paid twice by the county: once as the retired manager of subdivision and grading, and again to do his old job part time at $44.50 per hour. Stanton, a 29-year department veteran, was given a 4% boost in his pension Jan. 9. He said he returned last month "to help tune things up."

A critical internal audit released Thursday shows that Orange County planning managers did virtually nothing as the department careened toward financial crisis last year and plunged into a deficit. The county's internal auditor, Peter Hughes, also faulted budget officials at the county executive office for not questioning the financial figures provided by planning officials, figures that later proved to be wildly inaccurate.

Under intense pressure from Orange County's largest landowners, the cash-strapped county planning department has rehired a top manager who recently had been given a bonus to retire early. Pat Stanton, 56, is being paid twice by the county: once as the retired manager of subdivision and grading, and again to do his old job part time at $44.50 per hour. Stanton, a 29-year department veteran, was given a 4% boost in his pension Jan. 9. He said he returned last month "to help tune things up."

Developers should be charged at least $2,335 to process a 2,000-square-foot model home in Orange County, according to a report released Friday by planning officials -- a 64% boost over the current fee. That is nearly twice what Riverside County charges for a slightly larger model home. It is less than similar fees collected by Irvine, Newport Beach and Orange.

The Orange County Planning and Development Services Department operated in the red for the last three years and used revenue from building fees for other purposes that under state law should be earmarked for inspections, according to a Times review of financial documents. In total, the department spent $24.5 million in reserves and bailout money, records show, and is now trying to balance its budget through layoffs and proposed increases in inspection fees.

A judge has denied a request from Orange County to remove a court-appointed expert who is evaluating how the county depleted an $18.5-million reserve from excess building fees. Attorney Jeffrey Dunn asked Superior Court Judge C. Robert Jameson to remove special master Robert P. Mosier for bias. Jameson denied the motion and told Mosier to bill the county for the costs he incurred to defend himself. Mosier was appointed a year ago by Jameson to review finances in the county planning department.