Monday, May 23, 2016

The Public Administrator (PA) Under New Management Makes Big Strides


The PA manages the court-ordered administration of estates for Orange County decedents who do not have someone qualified or willing to act for them. The PA is also responsible for General Relief Burials of indigent decedents, and provides deceased indigent veterans an honorable burial.



Posted By CotoBlogzz

Rancho Santa Margarita, CA – as a result of a grand jury released a report (In 2008-2009, ) in regards to the Public Guardian (PG)  and the  Public Administrator (PA,)which at the time was one single agency.

The PA manages the court-ordered administration of estates for Orange County decedents that do not have someone qualified or willing to act for them. The PA secures a decedent's property, locates qualified heirs and/or beneficiaries, administers the decedent's estate, and also processes claims for the decedent's creditors, marshals the estate's assets, pays taxes on behalf of the estate, and transfers the estate's assets to the decedent's heirs and/or beneficiaries. The PA investigates referrals from the Orange County Sheriff-Coroner's Office, when there is property left behind and the decedent's next of kin is not located. The PA is also responsible for General Relief Burials of indigent decedents, and provides deceased indigent veterans an honorable burial. The PA derives its operating revenue from a small statutory commission for their services, and the bulk of the funds are distributed to the heirs and/or beneficiaries by court order.


In March 2014, the PA was assigned to the OCDA by the BOS to address and repair the mismanagement. OCDA senior management and then-Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Henderson was tasked with evaluating the agency and restructuring and rebuilding the PA and inherited a large caseload backlog, an agency with low staff morale, unnecessary top-heavy bureaucracy, and mismanagement where staff cuts were routinely made year after year to make the yearly budget. Henderson had just retired after 28 years with OCDA, including 10 years as the assistant district attorney in charge of the Major Fraud Unit, five years as a homicide prosecutor, and a record of over 100 jury trials, with wide administrative and personnel experience. The BOS formally authorized her re-employment as an extra help retiree to act as Interim Chief Deputy PA with a 4 to 1 vote. She was tasked to manage the PA and hire a permanent Chief Deputy. She has since overseen the day to day management including personnel decisions and discipline, reviewing and re-structuring the PA office, recruitment, problem solving, and the interaction with the PG and HCA.

Today, the Orange County District Attorney (OCDA) announced today that the Public Administrator (PA) has made big strides in improving the agency and has reduced its backlog substantially after the OCDA was assigned the agency by the Orange County Board of Supervisors (BOS) in 2014. The Orange County Grand Jury also made public today a report titled, "Changing of the Guardian: Life after Reorganization of the Public Administrator and Public Guardian Offices."


After the OCDA restructured the PA, the reported results according to the OCDA are:
·         The PA is now moving real estate and personal property to auction more quickly and has held four real property auctions since 2014 with an increased attendance,
·         The PA's backlog has been reduced by 65 percent,
·         Held a well-publicized old car auction which brought in approximately $130,000,
·         Increased the speed of posting cars on Govdeals.com,
·         Launched a social media campaign promoting the July 2016 auction of nine houses throughout Orange County. For more information on the upcoming auction, please visit the PA website at http://ocgov.com/gov/pa/div/realproperty/auctions/properties, and

·         Has successfully managed the 2015-2016 fiscal year budget to achieve needed revenues, while simultaneously holding down administrative costs below budget, which means the PA is now living within its means.

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