Lawmakers call for court administrator’s dismissal

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Two state lawmakers called Thursday for the dismissal of the top administrator of California’s courts over what they said was mismanagement of a computer modernization project on which the cost has gone from $260 million to $1.9 billion.

The replacement of William C. Vickrey as the administrative director of the courts was requested in a letter to state Supreme Court Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye by Assemblyman Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens), who is chairman of the state’s Joint Legislative Audit Committee, and Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal (D-Long Beach).

Lowenthal had requested an audit of the Court Case Management System that found this month that it was poorly planned and administered by Vickrey’s office.

“The fact that news of his staggering mismanagement comes during a deep budget crisis underscores the need for his departure,” the two legislators wrote in their letter to the chief justice.

A response from the chief justice was not immediately available.

[Updated at 4:45 p.m. Later in the day, the chief justice issued a statement criticizing the request for dismissal of Vickrey and indicating that she is standing by him as manager of the Administrative Office of the Courts.

[‘I consider this letter a serious attempt to interfere with judicial branch governance and my ability to evaluate the AOC management team,’ Cantil-Sakauye said. ‘Moreover, this letter is a profound diversion from the difficult issues that our branch is trying to resolve.’

[She went on to say: ‘Mr. Vickrey is and has been an invaluable resource to the judicial branch and I continue to work closely with him and others to meet the courts’ challenges - most notably the $200- million reduction to the branch.’]

--Patrick McGreevy