California flu deaths for those under 65 running far ahead of last year

Influenza-related illness has killed 147 Californians under age 65 this season, including 17 people in Los Angeles County and one in Long Beach, state health officials have confirmed.

The toll is unusually high: At the same point last year, only 14 people in that age group had died of the flu, Dr. James Watt of the California Department of Public Health told reporters Friday.

Throughout the entire 2012-2013 flu season, the state logged just 106 confirmed deaths.

The new fatalities are a sign that this year's flu season continues to be especially severe, even as some indicators of influenza activity, such as hospitalizations for flu-related illness, seem to be plateauing in L.A. County, California and elsewhere across the U.S.

"Unfortunately, one of the things we always say about influenza is that it's unpredictable," said Watt, chief of the public health department's Division of Communicable Disease Control. "It's too early to say if this decline will be sustained."

The state confirmed 52 new deaths last week. Public health workers were investigating an additional 44 reported influenza deaths, most of which are likely to be confirmed in coming days.

"We expect the number to climb," Watt said.

L.A. County also released flu statistics Friday.

The county Department of Public Health's latest Influenza Watch update indicated that activity was "still up, but leveling off," with slight decreases in the number of flu-related visits to emergency departments and positive flu tests in recent weeks.

But even with those reductions, the number of flu illnesses remained high, said department Director Dr. Jonathan Fielding, who urged everyone — especially members of high-risk groups such as the elderly, pregnant women and people with underlying medical conditions — to get a flu vaccine.

"Anyone who hasn't been immunized, there's still time," Fielding said. "There's going to be a lot of flu, and the flu will hang around for months."

The county reported that 33 people, including two children, had died of the illness as of Jan. 25.

Several factors could account for the disparity between the state and county tallies, Watt said.

Counties report flu deaths before the state confirms fatalities, so sometimes state numbers lag behind. Additionally, some counties — including Los Angeles — include deaths among people above the age of 65.

The state Department of Public Health focuses on deaths among younger people because that metric provides a useful gauge of the severity of the flu season's illnesses, Watt said.

Typically, influenza strikes very old people or very young children more intensely than it affects young adults. But this year's predominant strain, H1N1 or swine flu, has behaved differently from past seasons — sickening otherwise healthy, younger adults.

Watt said Friday that it was not yet clear that H1N1 would result in a disproportionate number of deaths among younger, healthy people this season. The "great majority" of fatalities so far in California had occurred in people with underlying medical conditions that could put them at higher risk, he said.

"We're still tracking how this virus will behave this year," he said, adding that national data seem to show that H1N1 was behaving "more like a typical virus" than it did during the 2009 pandemic, when swine flu contributed to thousands of deaths around the world.

"It certainly is impacting young adults, but it's less pronounced" than in the past, he said.

The public health department does not yet have data detailing how many Californians have received a flu vaccine this season.

Doses of the flu shot and nasal spray are "widely available," Watt said.

In 2012-2013, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated, 44.2% of Californians age 6 months or older received a flu immunization.

eryn.brown@latimes.com

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California drought could force key water system to cut deliveries

Officials Friday said that for the first time ever, the State Water Project that helps supply a majority of Californians may be unable to make any deliveries except to maintain public health and safety.

The prospect of no deliveries from one of the state's key water systems underscores the depth of a drought that threatens to be the worst in California's modern history.

But the practical effect is less stark because most water districts have other sources, such as local storage and groundwater, to turn to. Officials stressed that the cut did not mean faucets would run dry.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the state project's largest customer, has said it has enough supplies in reserve to get the Southland through this year without mandatory rationing.

Even so, the announcement Friday is a milestone. "This is the first time in the 54-year history of the State Water Project that projected water supplies for both urban and agricultural uses have been reduced to zero," said state Department of Water Resources director Mark Cowin.

"This is not a coming crisis … This is a current crisis," Cowin said during a Sacramento news conference in which state officials announced a variety of actions they were taking to cope with the growing water shortage.

The State Water Project supplies mostly urban agencies centered in the Bay Area and Southern California, along with about 1,000 square miles of irrigated farmland, primarily in the southern San Joaquin Valley.

The State Water Resources Control Board is issuing temporary orders relaxing environmental standards that would have triggered increased releases from large reservoirs in Northern California. It is limiting exports from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to what is necessary to meet health and safety needs, in effect eliminating delta irrigation deliveries to San Joaquin agriculture.

The board is also telling about 5,800 junior rights holders, most of them agricultural, that they will have to curtail surface water diversions in the Sacramento and San Joaquin river basins.

"Today's actions mean that everyone — farmers, fish, people in our cities and towns — will get less water," Cowin said. "But these actions will protect us all better in the long run. Simply put, there's not enough water to go around."

Last year was California's driest calendar year in more than a century of records. This year could be just as bad. Storage in major reservoirs has dropped well below average. The mountain snowpack, which acts as a natural reservoir, is at record lows for this time of year.

Gov. Jerry Brown has declared a drought emergency and urged all Californians to cut water use by 20%. The state has identified 17 communities in Central and Northern California that could run out of water in the next couple of months.

Growers who get supplies from the federal Central Valley Project will hear in a few weeks if they can count on any deliveries from that system.

About 75% of Californians' water use is by agriculture, meaning the state's fertile middle takes the biggest hit in times of drought. San Joaquin Valley farmers will pump groundwater and use any reserves they have to keep profitable orchards and vines alive, while leaving hundreds of thousands of acres unplanted this year.

Jim Beck, general manager of the Kern County Water Agency, the State Water Project's second-largest customer, said his growers would be able to make up for a large part of lost deliveries with groundwater and supplies left over from last year.

Still, he called the prospect of a zero allocation a "huge disaster that will dramatically affect our growers economically" and said it "should be viewed with the same urgency and response as an earthquake and wildfire."

In 1991, during California's last major drought, the State Water Project didn't deliver any irrigation water but sent some supplies to urban agencies. The project makes monthly assessments and, if February and March bring rain and snow, the allocation could change.

In 2010, the state project initially said it would only be able to deliver 5% of contractor requests. When winter storms boosted reservoir levels, the allocation jumped to 50%.

Officials aren't counting on that this year. By reducing dam releases now, they say they can hold on to supplies to use later for urban deliveries, to prevent delta water supplies from getting too salty and to maintain cool river temperatures for migrating salmon.

"We're trying to make sure there's enough water for fish and public health going into the future," said Tom Howard, executive director of the state water board.

bettina.boxall@latimes.com

Twitter: @boxall

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Garcetti names new DWP head, dismisses senior official

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti on Thursday stepped up his effort to overhaul the leadership of the city's much-criticized municipal utility and curb the influence of its powerful employees' union by nominating a new agency boss and dismissing a top-ranking executive.

Garcetti nominated Anaheim City Manager Marcie Edwards to take charge of the Department of Water and Power, which has been struggling to manage a series of controversies over spending and customer service.

Edwards, who ran Anaheim's utility and previously worked at the DWP for more than two decades, was picked because she has the experience to run one of the nation's largest municipal utilities like a business and the toughness to "take on the status quo at the DWP," Garcetti said.

"During the mayor's race, L.A. voters gave me a mandate to reform the DWP, and with Marcie Edwards, we're going to make sure the DWP is more efficient," Garcetti told reporters at the utility's downtown headquarters. After taking office in July, Garcetti initiated a new study of agency salaries and how they compare to workers at other utilities.

Two years ago, city consultants reported that DWP workers were receiving significantly more pay than their counterparts in the industry. A Times analysis last year found that DWP employees are paid roughly 50% more than workers at other city agencies.

Edwards, who must be confirmed by the DWP Board of Commissioners and City Council, would be the first woman to run the DWP. She has deep roots at the department: Her father and grandfather worked there, and she started her career at the DWP as a clerk typist at the age of 19. She was the first woman to hold several job titles as she worked her way up the department ladder, Garcetti said.

If confirmed, Edwards will replace General Manager Ron Nichols, who announced his resignation earlier this month. Garcetti had publicly voiced a desire for Nichols to be more aggressive with the DWP union, notably in the administration's effort to determine how two utility-funded nonprofit trusts have spent more than $40 million in ratepayer money.

During his three-year tenure, Nichols was a co-director of the nonprofits with International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 18, Business Manager Brian D'Arcy. Nichols has said that he could not provide detailed financial records to the mayor's office without D'Arcy's consent, and that D'Arcy threatened to sue him personally if the records were made public.

On Thursday, Edwards said she would support the mayor's efforts to make the documents public and cut off the nonprofits' money "until we can account for the activities and spending."

Also on Thursday, Senior Assistant General Manager Aram Benyamin was placed on administrative leave. A 33-year veteran of the department, Benyamin was in charge of the utility's massive power grid, and one of two senior assistants who report to the general manager.

Benyamin was considered a close management ally of D'Arcy, who strongly backed Garcetti's opponent in last year's mayoral campaign.

Benyamin said he was given no explanation for his removal. Asked if he thought it was due to his ties to the union chief, he said, "I grew up with Brian D'Arcy, I came up through the ranks of the IBEW. If that's the reason, I'm proud of that."

Mayoral spokesman Jeff Millman declined to comment directly on the reasons for Benyamin's removal, saying only that Garcetti "wants new leadership to reform the DWP. More changes are likely in the future."

Benyamin said he plans to exercise an option to go back to the DWP Civil Service job he had before rising to the executive offices. "I've been there 33 years. I don't think I've taken a single day off," he said. "I'm not planning on retiring."

He also has served as a trustee of the nonprofit training and safety institutes that have been resisting attempts by Garcetti's DWP commissioners and the city controller to get a detailed accounting of how the nonprofits have used tens of millions of dollars in public money since 2000.

The battle over the records began in September after The Times reported that DWP officials had only scant information documenting how the nonprofits were spending up to $4 million a year.

D'Arcy has fought efforts to get the records, including a subpoena from City Controller Ron Galperin, arguing that the institutes are not subject to state public records laws.

The controversy escalated Tuesday when the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said its prosecutors and investigators were also seeking the nonprofits' records to determine if any crimes had been committed.

Edwards would take over an agency that is also trying to fix a new, $162-million computerized billing system that sent as many as 70,000 late or inaccurate bills to customers in recent months.

In addition, city officials say that the agency will soon have to make the case for raising customer rates to fulfill city obligations to replenish water supplies in the Owens Valley and increase the amount of power obtained from renewable sources, among other things.

jack.dolan@latimes.com

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Fear and shock may play role in silence after woman's beating death

The beating death of Kim Pham has begun to morph into urban legend a la Kitty Genovese, the New York City woman stabbed to death 50 years ago while dozens of bystanders supposedly watched but did nothing to help her.

In the Genovese case, it took decades to debunk that claim, which became the basis of a psychological concept called the "bystander effect" that explains why crowds fail to come to a victim's aid.

In the Pham case, it took about two weeks for an Orange County prosecutor to correct reports that bystanders did nothing to help as Pham was kicked and punched outside a nightclub in downtown Santa Ana.

As many as 15 witnesses may have tried to intervene in the brief fight, Senior Deputy Dist. Atty. Troy Pino said Thursday, at a court hearing for two young women charged with killing Pham.

That's not what video clips of the melee suggest or what some witnesses have said. But the case has been troublingly murky from its outset.

The district attorney's declaration may tidy up a public narrative that's taken on a life of its own and blurred the line between villains and victims, painting Pham as the one who threw the first punch, her friends as obstacles to justice and the witnesses to her beating as callous observers who did nothing to stop the brawl.

Still, it won't resolve the issue Pham's death has raised — why some of the young people out with her refused to talk with police about what happened on that sidewalk the night their friend died.

And it won't erase images we've already seen, of club-goers holding their cellphones aloft to record the sight of a woman being stomped.

::

I blamed a lack of empathy for both of those failures in my Tuesday column about Pham's death.

Many readers emailed to say that was too harsh; they blamed fear instead.

"I'm afraid that people's reluctance to intervene is heavily influenced these days by the belief that you'll get shot if you do," wrote Irving Lefberg. "Any of us can be found easily through social media and bumped off."

Some took issue with my contention that anyone in the crowd who saw what happened has a responsibility to speak up.

"If your daughter was the one who knew the identity of the killers, would you demand she step forward?" asked Arthur O. Armstrong. "She may well make the world a better place, but she won't be around to enjoy it."

Others were incensed by accounts of the silence of Pham's friends, who are part of a Vietnamese American community with a traditional distrust of police.

"I'm not interested in any more news about … how grief-stricken her family and friends are, if her friends refuse to cooperate with law enforcement in favor of a culture of silence brought here from Vietnam," George Izaguirre said.

"They either choose to be good citizens or consign themselves to the margins of society."

But Pino told me even that perception is overblown.

Many of Pham's friends, he wrote in an email, were helpful from the start. "While not everyone has come yet forward, it was never the case that Ms. Pham's companions refused to cooperate."

::

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Ridley-Thomas obtains building permit to renovate garage

Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas obtained a building permit Friday to renovate what appears to be an improperly converted garage at his Leimert Park home by adding a carport and removing a section of the detached building.

The request to approve the work comes after The Times reported that county-paid crews installing a security system last year replaced his garage's interior walls, installed electrical wiring and equipment, and put in appliances — without city permits.

The newspaper reported that the detached garage had been converted into an office with a restroom before the work was done, apparently without permits.

Online records show that city building officials issued a permit Friday to add a two-vehicle carport and convert the garage into a recreation room with a half-bathroom. In addition, the permit calls for the removal of a five-by-19-foot section of the building.

Bob Steinbach, a spokesman for the city's Department of Building and Safety, said inspectors have visited the home as part of an investigation into whether Ridley-Thomas' garage had been converted without permits. The probe was launched in response to a complaint after the Times report about the county work performed at the supervisor's home.

Steinbach said city officials still have to perform further inspections of the garage. As part of the permit sought Friday, he said, inspectors would conduct a thorough review of any work previously done without approval. He said inspectors, for example, usually punch holes in drywall to examine unpermitted electrical and plumbing work.

"That will all be part of the permit," he said. "There are a lot of inspections that have to happen."

Lisa Richardson, a spokeswoman for Ridley-Thomas, said the work proposed under Friday's permit "is a private matter and no public employees are involved." The permit lists the contractor as Yor Construction and Investments Inc., a Valley Village-based firm.

Ridley-Thomas has declined repeated requests from The Times to answer questions about last year's work by county-paid crews on his garage.

In an interview last week with radio station KCRW-FM (89.9), he said the garage had been converted before he bought the home more than 20 years ago. A Times check of city building records turned up no permits for the conversion or for last year's work by the county.

The supervisor has long called for aggressive code enforcement to prevent deadly fires in buildings —including garages — that were not permitted.

In 1997, when he was a Los Angeles city councilman, Ridley-Thomas called on the city's Department of Building and Safety to address "potentially fatal conditions which are too often present in illegally converted garages." In his motion, which followed the deaths of eight people in garage apartments, Ridley-Thomas suggested several possible solutions, such as requiring homeowners to obtain permits and inspections or fining or jailing property owners for renting out converted garages as places to live.

Last year, Ridley-Thomas sent out announcements from his official county Twitter feed while visiting a burned-out auto mechanics shop in East Rancho Dominguez where a mother and child had been killed in a fire. "No family should be in danger bc of unsafe bldg conditions," one tweet said. That was soon followed up with another: "Just not acceptable. Enforce the code. Protect life and property — in that order."

His spokeswoman said the "supervisor never has rented out his garage and nor has anyone ever lived in it while he has owned the property."

A county project manager who oversaw the work by county crews at Ridley-Thomas' home told The Times that the project lasted seven days in September. John Thompson said workers replaced the garage's interior wood-paneling with drywall and dug a 60-foot-long trench across the property to bury conduit and make more electrical power available to the structure. They also installed a wall-mounted heat-and-air unit, a flat-screen television and a refrigerator in the garage.

Several electrical and security systems experts told The Times that much of the work appeared to go beyond what would be required for even a high-end security system.

Generally, permits must be obtained for the installation of restrooms, air conditioners, electrical wiring and drywall, according to the Department of Building and Safety. Violators of the city's permit rules could be ordered to pay penalties and correct any improper work, the department website says.

Thompson said he believed the county crews did not need permits because they conduct their own inspections. But a spokesman for the city Building and Safety Department said permits were required because the work was done on a private home.

Ridley-Thomas told KCRW that he repaid the county nearly $4,000 for the cost of appliances that were installed during the project and extra labor performed by county crews in September. He did not offer a breakdown of the reimbursements or say when he made them.

The county has provided to The Times heavily redacted records that list the cost of the security work at $10,038. It was unclear whether that amount accounted for any reimbursements.

jack.leonard@latimes.com

paul.pringle@latimes.com

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Wright introduces bill to downgrade nonviolent felony convictions

SACRAMENTO —Two days after a jury found him guilty on eight felony counts of voter fraud and perjury, state Sen. Roderick Wright introduced a bill that would allow some nonviolent felony convictions to be converted to misdemeanors.

The Democrat, who represents an Inglewood-area district, was convicted Tuesday of lying about where he lived when he ran for his Senate seat and voted in several elections.

On Thursday, he introduced the bill. On Friday, a spokesman for Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) said the legislation would not be put to a vote.

"Regardless of any merits of the bill, wrong author, wrong time," said Rhys Williams, a spokesman for Steinberg.

Wright was stripped of a committee chairmanship but remains a member in good standing. His bill would have applied to felons who were not sent to state prison, whose crimes were not "serious or violent," who were not required to register as sex offenders and who presented "clear and convincing evidence" of rehabilitation.

Those facing a criminal charge at the time of the conversion request would have been ineligible, as would those convicted of an offense in the preceding five years — a provision that could have applied to Wright.

A spokeswoman for Wright said the bill, SB 929, was not intended to benefit him.

"Sen. Wright has worked for many years on issues of fairness in sentencing and 'second-chance legislation' with various community groups … and was only continuing those ongoing efforts," said the spokeswoman, Jennifer Hanson.

"However," she added, Wright "recognizes that public perception under present circumstances casts a different light on his involvement with this issue, and he will not be moving the bill."

Wright reported to the state in a required filing Friday that he raised $89,200 last year for his legal defense fund, bringing the total to $248,000 since 2011. Donations have come from Steinberg, Sempra Energy, PG&E and California Grand Casino.

patrick.mcgreevy@latimes.com

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Solis faced federal inquiry concerning role in Obama fundraiser

Former U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, the front-runner for an open seat on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, faced a federal inquiry concerning her involvement in a fundraiser for President Obama, according to two sources familiar with the case.

In response to questions from The Times, Solis campaign consultant Parke Skelton said Friday she hired a Washington, D.C., law firm in 2012, her final year as Labor secretary, "to address legal issues concerning her role in a fundraising event" at a Los Angeles supper club. Skelton said Solis' participation in the Obama fundraiser was "perfectly proper."

Solis disclosed her legal bill in federal financial disclosure forms she filed last February, shortly after she left the Obama Cabinet. The forms show she owed the Sidley Austin firm between $50,001 and $100,000 for "legal advice."

Several months later, an FBI agent questioned state Sen. Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) about whether Solis had solicited his support for the fundraiser, according to two sources familiar with the inquiry. Both requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak about the case.

A De León spokesman said the senator had no comment. Campaign disclosure filings show De León did not contribute to the Obama campaign.

The fundraiser was held in March 2012 at La Fonda and focused on tapping support in the Latino community for the president's reelection. Solis got top billing on Facebook pages and websites promoting the event, which also promised a performance by singer-songwriter Gustavo Galindo.

Federal law forbids Cabinet members from directly raising campaign money, although they generally are allowed to attend and give speeches at fundraisers.

The status of the FBI probe could not be determined, and a FBI spokeswoman declined to comment.

In an emailed statement Friday, Skelton said, "Secretary Solis, like other members of this administration and those previous, was permitted under the applicable rules to engage in political activities during the President's re-election efforts. Secretary Solis strongly believes that her participation in the La Fonda event was perfectly proper."

The Solis campaign initially declined to discuss why she needed legal help, saying it was a matter of attorney-client privilege.

The disclosure forms do not indicate precisely when Solis incurred the Sidley Austin debt or whether she repaid it.

Skelton said he could not immediately answer other questions about the matter.

Richard Painter, a University of Minnesota law professor who once advised incoming Cabinet members about ethics rules during the George W. Bush administration, said a law known as the Hatch Act prohibits them from soliciting campaign donations.

He said Cabinet members "can speak at a fundraiser in a personal capacity, but they cannot ask people for money."

In a letter announcing her resignation as Labor secretary, Solis said she "decided to begin a new future, and return to the people and places I love and that have inspired and shaped my life."

At the time, there were expectations that Solis would run for the supervisor seat being vacated by Gloria Molina, perhaps as the first step toward statewide office. In recent months, Solis has been locking up early endorsements from labor groups that view her as a natural ally.

No other high-profile candidate has entered the race.

Molina is relinquishing the seat, which is anchored on the Eastside, because of term limits.

paul.pringle@latimes.com

Times staff writers Patrick McGreevy in Sacramento and Seema Mehta in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

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Race to replace Rep. Henry Waxman gathers momentum

The race to replace Rep. Henry A. Waxman intensified Friday, a day after the Westside Democrat announced that he would not seek a 21st term in Congress.

State Sen. Ted Lieu announced Friday he would run, joining former City Controller Wendy Greuel among Democrats seeking to represent the district that stretches from Malibu to the Palos Verdes Peninsula and straddles the Westside and the South Bay. Activist and attorney Sandra Fluke is expected to make a decision in coming days, and Secretary of State Debra Bowen is still considering a bid.

"It's going to be a cast of thousands. This seat has not been open in 40 years … and there are no term limits in Congress," said Garry South, a veteran Democratic strategist. "Everyone's going to go after the brass ring."

The district leans left, and any Democratic candidate deciding whether to get into the race will need to make a decision next week to be eligible for a nomination by the state party, a significant imprimatur in a multi-candidate contest.

Prior to Waxman's announcements, two independent candidates were already in the hunt: Brent Roske, a television producer and director, and Marianne Williamson, the author of several self-help books.

Williamson on Friday cautioned voters not to be lulled into thinking the incumbent's retirement had produced an open race.

"America's traditional two-party rhetoric is not wide open," said Williamson, a former Democrat who said she would caucus with that party if elected. "It is fundamentally narrow and constricted" because moneyed interests have too much influence over the two dominant parties.

Another big question yet unanswered is whether Manhattan Beach businessman Bill Bloomfield, an independent and former Republican, will run. Bloomfield spent more than $7 million of his own money in an unsuccessful 2012 race against Waxman, winning 46% of the vote.

Even before Waxman's surprise announcement, Bloomfield was exploring running again. On Friday, he said he was "definitely leaning toward running."

"It's not a decision to be made lightly," he said.

Strategists on both sides of the aisle said that Waxman's retirement, coupled with the large field of Democratic candidates competing in the so-called jungle primary, in which the top two vote-getters move to the general election regardless of party designation, would buoy Bloomfield's chances. Another option: a bid by a well-financed, moderate Republican, though one had not emerged by Friday evening.

All of the candidates — announced or potential — have strengths and baggage. Greuel has sky-high name recognition from her 2013 mayoral bid, during which she spent millions in the Los Angeles media market. But she will face charges of carpetbagging because she does not currently live in the district — she said she would move — and South Bay voters may object to her failure during the mayor's race to take a stance on proposed LAX runway expansion.

Lieu's Torrance-based district overlaps with about 80% of the congressional district, and he rolled out an impressive list of endorsements Friday. But he is not well known in the northern half of the district, home to two-thirds of its voters.

An Air Force veteran, Lieu was on the Torrance City Council before being elected to the Assembly and then the state Senate. He said he shares many of the same concerns as Waxman, including environmental protections.

"I think I've been a leader on many of the issues voters in this district care about," Lieu said.

Lieu and Bowen have deep ties to the South Bay. Fluke, who famously came under assault from radio host Rush Limbaugh after she advocated contraception coverage during the health insurance debate, is well known among Democratic activists nationwide, but has never held elected office. She and Greuel would probably attract some of the same supporters.

Although the district tilts Democratic, there are pockets of Republicans and a large number of decline-to-state voters. And the Democrats are not homogenous, ranging from coastal liberals to a significant gay and lesbian community, from affluent Asian Americans in Rancho Palos Verdes to conservative Democrats in Torrance, Democratic redistricting expert Paul Mitchell said.

"The demographics in this district really have several different aspects of Los Angeles in it," he said.

seema.mehta@latimes.com

jean.merl@latimes.com

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UC Irvine chancellor takes top job at Ohio State

Michael V. Drake, who as chancellor of UC Irvine enhanced the school's reputation as a first-rate research institution and boosted enrollment, was named Thursday as the new president of Ohio State University.

Drake's appointment was announced at a meeting of the Board of Trustees in Columbus. He was the consensus candidate, officials said.

"He is exactly the right leader at the right moment in the university's history as we address the challenges of affordability and access, while building on the already strong momentum we have generated at Ohio State in increasing the university's academic excellence," board Chairman Robert H. Schottenstein said.

Drake has served as head of the 28,000-student Irvine campus since 2005. He has a medical degree, a background in administration and a reputation as a prolific fundraiser. He will move to the Ohio campus with 57,000 students, top-flight athletics, and a mission to improve its academic ranking and research focus.

He replaces former Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee, who retired in July after six years at the helm. It was his second stint as Ohio State president. Gee, known for his colorful bow ties, left under a cloud after making remarks considered disparaging to Catholics. He is now interim president of West Virginia University.

In an interview, Drake said that he would always be a fan of Irvine but that the Ohio State post was an opportunity to take on new challenges.

"It's similar work, with a little different focus and scope in a different part of the country," Drake said. "Ohio State is a wonderful example of a flagship university, a land grant university that is very connected with the community, that's done wonderful things for the region and nationally and has wonderful potential to do even more."

Drake, 63, will leave the Irvine campus in June. A search committee is expected to begin looking for a replacement in February, UC system President Janet Napolitano said in a statement. Irvine Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Howard Gillman will serve as interim chancellor until the post is filled.

Napolitano called Drake a "dedicated and passionate" leader.

"Chancellor Drake has made the promulgation of values a hallmark of the UC Irvine experience," Napolitano said. "The seven campus values that he suggested at the time of his appointment — respect, intellectual curiosity, integrity, commitment, empathy, appreciation, and fun — have become essential parts of fostering the creative process, building stronger bonds between people, and inspiring a shared sense of purpose among faculty, staff, and students."

Speculation within the UC system held that Drake was on the short list of candidates for the UC presidency that eventually went to Napolitano. Drake did not directly address whether that was a factor in his decision to leave Irvine.

"One of my reservations in leaving is that I won't have an opportunity to continue working with President Napolitano, who brings a great voice and vision to UC," Drake said. "I think she's going to continue to be a terrific leader."

Drake graduated from Stanford University and earned a medical degree from UC San Francisco, where he worked for more than two decades as a professor of ophthalmology. Before taking over UC Irvine, he was the UC system's vice president for health affairs for five years.

At Irvine he presided over a tremendous growth spurt, with applications for undergraduate admissions increasing more than 90%. The university's four-year graduation rate increased 19%, and Drake worked to increase admissions of low-income and minority students.

He also worked to repair the image of UCI's medical school, after The Times reported in 2005 that more than 30 patients died awaiting liver transplants over a two-year period. Since then, the school has built a new hospital and the medical facility is considered among the nation's finest.

The campus attracted controversy in 2010 when the Muslim Student Union was suspended after a protest disrupted a speech by the Israeli ambassador.

Drake oversaw the opening in 2009 of the first new public law school in California in more than 40 years. But he was criticized when he rescinded a contract with prominent legal scholar Erwin Chemerinsky to become the founding dean because he felt the law professor's liberal stances were polarizing. Drake denied being pressured by outside influences and the post was offered again to Chemerinsky, who accepted.

Chemerinsky said any initial tension had long faded. He said he spoke to members of the Ohio State search committee, telling them that Drake would make a "terrific" leader. The two have co-taught a freshman seminar on the history of civil rights for many years.

"I don't think you can find a better campus president anywhere else in the country, though I'm heartbroken he's leaving Irvine," Chemerinsky said.

"He knows when to be hands on and when to delegate and he has a wonderful manner of dealing with people. I can't say we have always agreed on everything, but I know where he stood on issues, and he was always willing to listen."

Officials at Ohio State said Drake's contract and salary are expected to be finalized Friday.

carla.rivera@latimes.com

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Financial audit of Irvine's Orange County Great Park moves forward

Civic leaders in Irvine have authorized the use of subpoenas to help auditors dig deeper into an investigation of the financial management of the Orange County Great Park.

The City Council voted 3 to 2 this week to move forward with a forensic audit after a preliminary report raised questions about spending, contracts and oversight of the planned 1,300-acre park, which has been in the works for more than a decade.

Council members Larry Agran and Beth Krom, who helped steward the project from its beginnings until they lost the council majority in the 2012 city election, denounced the decision, which Krom called a "witch hunt."

"What I fear we are witnessing here tonight is the apex of a campaign of lies, distortions and misrepresentations with respect to the Orange County Great Park," Krom said.

Mayor Pro Tem Jeff Lalloway said Irvine residents want to know how money earmarked for the Great Park was spent.

"The most important question I get," Lalloway said, "is what happened to all that money for what we have out there."

About $215 million has been spent on the ambitious plan to transform the former Marine Corps Air Station El Toro into a metropolitan park, but only 230 acres have been developed. When the park plan was pitched to voters in a countywide election, proponents said it would someday rival San Diego's Balboa Park or even Central Park in New York City.

Last year, the council majority abandoned part of the park's grand design and instead approved a developer's proposal to build a golf course, sports complex and other amenities on 688 acres in exchange for the right to build 4,600 additional homes along its perimeter.

The first audit, which was approved by the council last year and presented earlier this month, faulted Great Park leadership for allowing contractors to use excessive change orders, not fully vetting major vendors, and paying a communications and strategy firm $6.3 million under contracts for the park's design.

The report by accounting firm Hagen, Streiff, Newton & Oshiro also found that about 38% of all contracts for amounts more than $100,000 were awarded without competitive bids.

Auditors told the council that the investigation was hamstrung because several key players, including the park's primary contractors, refused to talk with them.

This week, Gafcon Inc., one of those firms, issued a statement saying it had contacted the city's special counsel overseeing the audit to say it will cooperate, though it faulted the audit for containing "numerous factual inaccuracies, incorrect assumptions and speculative preliminary conclusions."

The first audit cost the city $240,000 and the additional investigation will cost $400,000.

paloma.esquivel@latimes.com

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