Recall picks up support

John Moorlach, the treasurer and tax collector for Orange County, has

endorsed the campaign to recall Coast Community College District

trustee Armando Ruiz from office.

A longtime advocate for government responsibility in pension

plans, Moorlach presented a short statement to the organizers of the

Recall Ruiz campaign last week. The group, led by political

consultant David Kidd, fellow trustee Jerry Patterson and others, is

circulating a petition that seeks to place a recall vote on the

November ballot.

“Public officials are supposed to represent the best interests of

the public,” Moorlach’s statement reads. “So, when an elected

representative is caught gaming the public pension system, it’s time

to remove them from office. The cost of a recall election is a small

price to pay to ensure responsible management of the public trust.”

Ruiz, a Coast district trustee since 1984, angered many in the

community when he retired from two jobs on the same day last October

-- one his part-time trustee post, the other a full-time counseling

position in the South Orange County Community College District --

and, through a loophole in state law that has since been closed,

secured a full-time pension for both jobs.

Four days later, Ruiz ran for the board of trustees again as an

incumbent and won, leading many in the community to question his

honesty. Reportedly, his total pension for both jobs totals more than

$100,000, which he receives in addition to his salary as a trustee.

While Moorlach acknowledged that Ruiz’s move was legal, he still

criticized it as an exploitation of state funds.

“The reason I support a measure like that is [that there are] too

many abuses in pension plans,” he said. “Armando makes himself, in

Orange County, a poster child for why voters need to take a hard look

at what kind of fiscal animal the legislature in Sacramento has

created.

“If you can game the system with this kind of behavior, where

you’re resigning or retiring and then running again in a couple of

days, I find that an issue of abuse and integrity.”

Last May, the petitioners started their drive to remove Ruiz from

the board, more than once appearing at district meetings to ask him

in person to resign. Ruiz has consistently denied any wrongdoing and

argued that voters will support him if the recall goes to the ballot.

“I don’t predict anything,” Ruiz said Monday. “I stand by my

record, and I think people will see that record as always standing by

classroom education, with the best interests of the district in mind.

I’ve always been an advocate of the classroom.”

Despite the protests over Ruiz’s reelection campaign last October,

he won a sizable victory over his opponents, Diane Lenning and Bonnie

Castrey, garnering 40.8% of the vote.

To place the recall item on the November ballot, the organizers of

Recall Ruiz will need more than 36,000 signatures from registered

voters. Kidd, who is spearheading the campaign, said he did not know

how many had signed the petition as of this week.

Kidd and others said they were grateful for Moorlach’s support.

“I think it’s very important in that John is in a position of

authority from the county,” said Martha Fluor, a petitioner and a

board member for the Newport-Mesa Unified School District. “When he

speaks, people listen.”

* MICHAEL MILLER covers education and may be reached at (714)

966-4617 or by e-mail at [email protected].