2 Competing for Oversight of Estates

Longtime county Public Administrator William A. Baker, appointed in 1985, is facing one opponent in this year’s election. Kris Beard, a 42-year-old management analyst for the county’s health care agency, is running against Baker, 56, and said he would make the office more efficient.

The county administrator manages the assets and estates of Orange County residents who die without leaving an heir or will. The office manages an average of 250 cases at any time and oversees nearly $25 million worth of assets annually.

Beard, who has contributed $2,000 to his own campaign, said he would seek to privatize or contract out certain functions of the office to save money.

“We need to try to make it self-supporting,” Beard said. “There are cost-cutting measures and management actions we can take to make operations more self-supporting.”

But Baker said the office runs on a $557,000 budget and is funded by fees, not the county’s general fund.

Baker, who said he has not raised any money for his campaign, said he would like to upgrade the automated system to improve efficiency in administering the estates. He said he has consolidated work in the accounting and warehousing staffs to cut costs.

“I think we do an excellent job,” Baker said. “The issue here is experience, and my opponent has no experience.”