Here is another roundup of some of the most thought-provoking reader comments of the week. Click on each topic’s headline to see the article in question. Comments are selected by our editors and subject to editing for grammar, spelling, clarity and length.
Mauk and Bustamante
I hear [County CEO Tom] Mauk is all but gone. Now comes the exit settlement. It’s all about greed. He should be fired, but he will walk with some serious cash, because that’s how its done when you’re at the top.
Mauk is the keeper of secrets, and they want to keep it that way. Nelson will be the lone dissenter for a big cash payout, because Mauk probably doesn’t have much dirt on him.
Mauk already gets a quarter million a year in retirement from La Habra, plus he will probably get at least that much from county retirement plus his 401(k) plus his severance package.
Does he really need more than $500,000 a year in retirement, all at taxpayer expense? Just remember, Board of Supervisors, whatever you pay him to leave, you will pay the victims of [Carlos] Bustamonte tenfold.
— Cacityguy / July 5
This is where the finger-pointing starts. I predict a huge golden parachute for Mauk “in the best interest of the county.” Hush money.
If Bustamonte goes down, all those who enabled and protected him should go down too. The “good ol’ boy club” needs to get dismantled.
— Beelzebub / July 5
Yes, Mauk knows a lot. He also knows how to squeeze an enormous severance package out of the Board of Supervisors in exchange for taking the fall.
The scary question is who does the Board of Supervisors have in mind for interim CEO? The entire senior management at the county knew about Bustamante’s behavior, so nobody is clean.
— OC Bureaucrat / July 5
I am the senior partner of Wallin and Klarich. Our law firm has been successfully defending persons accused of sex crimes for over 30 years.
I have read the news coverage pertaining to the recent arrest of Carlos Bustamante related to several sexual abuse charges. I am shocked that so many people are willing to convict this man when the case facts indicate that he may not be guilty of any crimes.
From my review of the article in The Orange County Register about this case, it appears that two of the four alleged victims strongly deny that they had sexual contact with Mr. Bustamante. If this turns out to be accurate information, then this will prove extremely helpful to his defense.
It was also reported in the Register article that Supervisor [John] Moorlach has stated: “We will do our best to make sure that management identifies this type of behavior sooner and deals with it. … We have to make sure it never happens again.”
These type of “rush to judgment” comments are exactly the reason that it is difficult for someone to receive a fair trial when he or she is accused of a sex offense. It is clear that Mr. Bustamante has emphatically denied his guilt, and already a fellow supervisor is concluding he is guilty by his statements above.
— Paul J. Wallin / July 3
I for one am shocked — shocked! Who knew [District Attorney] Tony Rauckacaus would prosecute a Republican?
Oh, a pig just flew by.
— Gericault / July 2
Good Deal for the Union, Bad Deal for the Initiative
Man, [Anaheim City Councilwoman] Lorri Galloway blew it. Someone gave her $60,000 to run a winning community initiative, and instead of picking up the ball and running with it (maybe to a future mayoral seat?), she complains that it wasn’t enough.
Give us all a break with your crocodile tears.
Voice of OC usually does a great job of getting to the bottom of things, but this thing reads more like TMZ than New York Times.
— Stunned / July 2
As an Anaheim employee, this story is insulting. We were the ones that stepped up over the years to help balance the budget, our jobs have been outsourced over and over again, and now we lead the city on pension reform, opening our contract to make all of this possible.
Thank you, Anaheim Municipal Employees Association, for negotiating a good deal!
— Anaheim Facts / July 2
There was community support for a recall but not for that marginal initiative.
Galloway did a great job in stopping a recall election by converting it into a doomed initiative.
— Anaheim Home / July 2
Doctor Shortage?
If there is a shortage of doctors, that is very easily solved.
There are plenty of doctors in other countries who are fully qualified to U.S. standards. Just issue a ton of green cards for them and put U.S. doctors in direct competition with their lower-priced, foreign competition.
It’s what the U.S. did to people who work in manufacturing. It’s what the U.S. did to engineers. It’s what the U.S. did to call-center workers. What’s so special about doctors?
One might start thinking that “free trade” isn’t really free trade at all and that some professions are magically protected from its effects while others get clobbered by it.
— Kburgoyne / July 2
ACLU Suit Over Minority Representation
The [Anaheim City] Council monopoly has nothing to do with race, trust me. If the power structure could find someone purple to give in to their demands, they would back them. This is not about skin color. It is about making sure those elected will do as they are told by those who put them in office.
I think council districts or wards would help the average citizen to run, but it does not stop the usual players from continuing to game the system. Instead of blanketing the city for their anointed candidates, they will divide the mailings to blanket the smaller districts.
The only way to get the elite to unclench their fists from around the throat of Anaheim is to get voters to pay attention to the special-interest money being spent instead of blindly electing the candidates backed by the Chamber of Commerce, by Support Our Anaheim Resort Area and by public safety.
Yeah, good luck with that.
— Cynthia Ward / June 29