William J Popejoy

As a mortgage banker and president of several savings and loans and the Federal Home Mortgage Corp., known as Freddie Mac, William J. Popejoy has long been involved in housing issues. Last July, he and real estate developer Merrill Butler, whom he worked with while trying to save American Savings & Loan, formed a company to fund affordable housing and to buy loans from thrifts and banks. He spoke with Times staff writer James S.

Escalating the battle over the Balboa Bay Club, Newport Beach businessman William J. Popejoy filed a second lawsuit, this one for slander, against the private club's managing executive. Popejoy's lawsuit, filed Friday in Orange County Superior Court, accuses David C. Wooten of defaming him in remarks made to a Daily Pilot reporter and published in the local newspaper June 2. Neither the reporter nor the Pilot, which covers Newport Beach and Costa Mesa, was named as a defendant.

The audacious bid Thursday by county Chief Executive Officer William J. Popejoy to oust Supervisor Roger R. Stanton left elected officials and political activists stunned, with some praising the move and others criticizing it as politically motivated. * "This is unprecedented in Orange County history," said Gary L. Granville, the county's veteran clerk-recorder. "I don't know anything that even comes close to this. . . . It's just so shocking."

Hurling accusations of betrayal and greed, some prominent Orange County residents took their private battle to court Wednesday in a nasty dispute involving the Balboa Bay Club, a famous playground of the rich. William J. Popejoy, the millionaire banker who became chief executive of Orange County after its 1994 bankruptcy, had made a bid to buy the private club from Beverly Ray, whose family has owned the Newport Beach oceanfront landmark for nearly 30 years.

Popejoy to Discuss Recovery: Kicking off Cal State Fullerton's annual Business Week seminars, Orange County Chief Executive William J. Popejoy will talk Tuesday about plans for recovery from the bond fiasco that sent the affluent county into bankruptcy. He will be speaking at a luncheon to business executives, students, faculty and administrators in the first day of the annual event, which reunites students and faculty with alumni of Cal State's School of Business Administration and Economics.

Labor leaders said Friday that they received notice that County Chief Executive Officer William J. Popejoy has opted to abolish the alternate workweek for employees next month. Alternate workweeks allow for flexible schedules, such as working four 10-hour days or taking alternate Fridays off. Labor leaders, who have been invited to discuss the decision with county officials, reacted angrily to the news.

All Orange County residents lost Wednesday when William J. Popejoy announced his resignation as county chief executive officer. Unfortunately, Mr. Popejoy's kind of leadership is what the county needs, and his presence at the helm will be missed. His departure will only add to the leadership uncertainty that has plagued our county. There is a great disappointment that after seven months the supervisors have not come up with any viable solutions for the county's financial crisis. They have not provided the creative leadership and ideas to enable us to move forward and put December, 1994, behind us. Mr. Popejoy, you can only do so much; and then it finally feels good when you stop hitting your head against the wall.

Escalating the battle over the Balboa Bay Club, Newport Beach businessman William J. Popejoy filed a second lawsuit, this one for slander, against the private club's managing executive. Popejoy's lawsuit, filed Friday in Orange County Superior Court, accuses David C. Wooten of defaming him in remarks made to a Daily Pilot reporter and published in the local newspaper June 2. Neither the reporter nor the Pilot, which covers Newport Beach and Costa Mesa, was named as a defendant.

Orange County Chief Executive Officer William J. Popejoy owns three houses worth more than $100,000 each and collects "more than $10,000" a year from two separate businesses, according to an economic disclosure form Popejoy filed recently with the county's registrar of voters. Popejoy said he has "no reportable interests" from personal investments or investments held by a business or trust.

Responding to a move by the Orange County Employees Retirement System to remove its funds from county authority, county Chief Executive Officer William J. Popejoy said Wednesday that he has no objection to the pension board managing its own affairs. "They should do what they think is in the best interest of the retirees," Popejoy said. Citing a lack of confidence in the county's leadership, the pension board voted Tuesday to withdraw retirement funds from the control of the county treasurer.

William J. Popejoy, the businessman who helped extract Orange County from the worst local government bankruptcy in the nation's history, said Friday he will resign as director of the California Lottery next month. Popejoy, 60, appointed by Gov. Pete Wilson in April 1997 to run the $2-billion enterprise, said he intends to return to private enterprise, but has no specific job in mind.

In matters of government and commerce, he's becoming California's go-to guy in times of trouble. During the dismal days of the nation's savings and loan crisis, federal regulators brought in William J. Popejoy to run the country's most troubled thrift. A decade later, Orange County called on Popejoy to right the teetering county after it declared bankruptcy in 1994.

He doesn't like gambling. The only time he purchased Lotto tickets was a couple of years ago as a joke for his wife's birthday. But William J. Popejoy said he's looking forward to getting started Monday as director of the California State Lottery. He was appointed Tuesday to the post by Gov. Pete Wilson subject to Senate confirmation, which is not expected to be a problem.

William J. Popejoy, the blunt trouble-shooter who helped guide Orange County through its bankruptcy, has been selected by Gov. Pete Wilson to become the new director of California's lottery, The Times has learned. Popejoy, who begins work on Monday, succeeds Mary Anne Gilliard, the former prosecutor who has served as the lottery's interim director since July.

Merrill Lynch & Co. issued a statement Tuesday denying that it had offered to settle Orange County's $2-billion bankruptcy-related lawsuit last May when the firm's top executives met secretly with William J. Popejoy, who was the county's chief executive at the time.

In a secret effort to settle the county's bankruptcy-related lawsuit, Wall Street giant Merrill Lynch & Co. last May proposed a deal to pay bondholders $430 million and give the county an $800-million loan to pay off other creditors, according to documents made public Monday. The proposal called for Merrill Lynch and other Wall Street firms that did business with the county to help the county repay its debts, the documents show.