The Voice of OC broke two stories yesterday that the County of Orange officially fired Alisa Drakodaidis, Orange County deputy CEO, yesterday and Jill Arthur, an assistant city manager for the City of Santa Ana , has been placed on leave pending an investigation into her alleged behavior following an automobile accident.
Drakodaidis is the latest county official to be fired or resign in the wake of criminal charges of sexual harassment against former Santa Ana city council member and former Orange County middle manager Carlos Bustamante, who is schedule to go on trial later this year.
From the story on Drakodaidis:
Drakodaidis placed herself on a stress medical leave last year just after District Attorney Tony Rackauckas filed a dozen felony sex charges against county Public Works executive Carlos Bustamante, who was also a Santa Ana city councilman and rising star in the local Republican Party.
As with much of the controversy that has ensued since Bustamante’s arrest — including the resignations of CEO Tom Mauk and Public Works Director Jess Carbajal — officials have kept Drakodaidis’ status largely quiet.
Just after her quiet exit from the county Hall of Administration, Drakodaidis sent a politically explosive letter to the county that resembled a legal claim. The letter leveled a series of accusations of Rackauckas and several county supervisors, including specific allegations of impropriety against Supervisor Pat Bates.
Bates said that Drakodaidis’ allegations against her were unfounded, and supervisors then hired a law firm to investigate the accusations.
And the story on Jill Arthur:
According to sources familiar with the investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity, about six months ago Arthur was involved in a car accident with Marcel Alvarez, a 22-year-old Buena Park resident. Rather than exchange insurance information, Arthur offered to get Alvarez a job by leveraging her influence at the Santa Ana Work Center, a city office that assists residents in finding employment, sources said.
In March, Arthur was promoted to the deputy city manager position that oversees the city’s community development agency, under which the work center operates.
Alvarez declined to comment, and Arthur could not be immediately reached for comment. A police spokesman said the city would not be able to confirm whether a police report of the alleged incident exists based on the information provided to him by Voice of OC.
Some at City Hall have questioned the timing of the investigation. Sources with knowledge about the situation said city officials first received a complaint about Arthur’s actions soon after the alleged incident took place, approximately six months ago.
Arthur’s leave is another blow to Santa Ana mayor Miguel Pulido as Arthur is considered a Pulido confidante at Santa Ana City Hall. If she did, in fact, offer some sort of employment to a stranger from a car accident instead of simply exchanging insurance information, you have to wonder how many members of city staff and rank and file employees may have gotten their city jobs this way.
Could you have read a more biased article about Arthur than that in the Voice?The Santa Ana reporting there has become a PR piece for the sellout for the developers taking advantage of downtown SA
Just because you rent a small office in the Santora, doesn’t mean you represent us Adam. Also, take it easy on the parking lady!
SA Artist,
I have not found any other report on this matter in any other publication. I do not believe it is Adam’s job to represent the artists in Santa Ana. He has however been responsible for the bulk of the attention focused on questionable acts of Santa Ana officials.
For the record, it is The Voice of OC that rents space in the Santora building. Adam works for Voice of OC, he doesn’t pay the rent.
I view Adam’s reporting to be head and shoulders above any other in OC.