
On April 20, 2010 the Orange County Board of Supervisors directed the CEO to review the acquisition of a building at 433 W. Civic Center Drive for use by the Clerk-Recorder for the County Archives program. Supervisor Moorlach was concerned that all relevant information was not provided to the Board before it approved the purchase. The CEO has provided his report to the Board here.
The missing document was a review and analysis by the county’s Architectural & Engineering folks that estimated the cost necessary to renovate the building for occupancy by the County Archives program. A review of the transmittal of the request to the Board of Supervisors indicates that renovations would be necessary to make the building ready for occupancy by the program. While the projected costs were not included, the document provides enough information for the Board to reach a conclusion about the proposed purchase, and the opportunity for Board offices to request details of the renovation costs, as they were not directly related to the purchase of the property which was the matter before them.
The purchase of the facility had been budget and any renovations would nee approval by the Board prior to moving forward. CEO Tom Mauk’s review concludes that the purchase of the property was a “positive outcome” for the county.
So much for there being any “scandal” related to the purchase of this property. Unfortunately, I am sure that those trying to pin this as a failure on the back of Clerk-Recorder Tom Daly will not be convinced.