O.C. supervisors delay action on firing of county chief executive

Orange County supervisors didn't take any action against the chief executive officer in a closed-session meeting held Friday afternoon.

In a memo dated a day earlier, board Chairman John Moorlach requested a closed session to evaluate and discuss the performance of CEO Tom Mauk. The agenda also included an item about the possible appointment of an interim chief executive.

The move came after Carlos Bustamante, a Santa Ana city councilman and former administrator in the county public works department, was charged this week with 12 felonies in connection with allegations that he sexually harassed more than seven women over eight years.

In an email update Friday evening, Moorlach said he and Vice Chairman Shawn Nelson had been working together and had a telephone conversation with Mauk on Thursday morning.

"Based on the tenor of that conversation, the vice chairman and I felt it was necessary to call an  emergency closed-session board meeting," Moorlach wrote.

But after the three-hour meeting ended Friday, Moorlach disclosed few details about what was discussed. He said Mauk's performance evaluation had been continued to July 24 and would not comment on the remaining agenda items. He said the board had "dialogue" with Mauk and discussed ways that county executives can deal with sexual harassment in the workplace in the future.

"We should evaluate the incidents in the future to see if it should be directed" to the district attorney's office, Moorlach said.

He would not say if Mauk's dismissal was still pending. "This was a very healthy session," he said.

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-- Nicole Santa Cruz in Orange County

Photo: Orange County Chief Executive Officer Tom Mauk. Credit: Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times