ORANGE COUNTY IN BANKRUPTCY : 8 Volunteers Signed Up for Rescue Team

SANTA ANA — Orange County Chief Executive Officer William J. Popejoy on Thursday named an emergency team of eight volunteers to help rescue the county from its financial fiasco.

Like Popejoy, the eight agreed to serve without pay. And like Popejoy, most are wealthy, retired Republican men who live in Newport Beach.

“The county faces a tremendous challenge. To accomplish our goals will require all citizens to support and join our efforts,” Popejoy said in a written statement. “These volunteers serve as an example of the overwhelming positive response we have received from the community.”

Popejoy said all eight live in Orange County and will work out of office space at the county Hall of Administration. Most are friends or former co-workers of the county’s new administrator. Some served with Popejoy on various boards of directors, others met him through a local country club.

The group will be led by Paul S. Nussbaum, 37, of Newport Beach, who is on loan to the county from his post as vice president of Wells Fargo Commercial Banking Group. The others are:

* Gerald D. Barrone of Newport Beach. Barrone, a past president of Fidelity Federal Bank, Citadel Holding Corp. and Coast Federal Bank, will focus on privatization.

* Robert Barton, 72, of Newport Beach. Barton is an attorney and will help with the bankruptcy proceedings.

* Merrill Butler, 69, of Newport Beach. A past president of the National Assn. of Home Builders and presidential appointee to the Federal National Mortgage Assn. board, Butler heads a real estate consulting company and will help the county with community outreach.

* Paul E. (Ed) Dundon, 63, Orange. The retired superintendent of the Garden Grove Unified School District was once a candidate for Popejoy’s post, and now will coordinate the county’s communication with employee groups, investors and other creditors.

* Walter B. Gerken, 72, of Newport Beach. Gerken, the retired former CEO of Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Co., will focus on the reorganization of county government. He is the lone Democrat on the team.

* Thomas P. Kemp, 64, of Laguna Beach. The brother of former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Jack Kemp was CEO of the Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Los Angeles, and now runs a program at Pepperdine University to retrain Russian engineers. Kemp will help the county develop a refinancing strategy.

* Neil Stolz, the former chief administrator of American Savings Bank and Financial Federation Inc. He will handle asset sales. His age and city of residence were not available Thursday.

“I’m not the type to go out to pasture,” said Gerken, who met Popejoy through the Balboa Bay Club, when asked why he volunteered for the county’s rescue team. “I have more time than I have had in the past, and I like Bill Popejoy, and I think the assignment he’s taken on pro bono, I just applaud him for doing it. I’d like to help him if I can, and help the county.”

Gerken and others reached for comment Thursday night said that while they would not rule out a tax increase, they must wait until they learn more before plotting solutions.

“I’m keeping an open mind because I figure that I have a lot to learn,” Kemp said. “I’ve been reading the newspapers but I haven’t been in the business of forming a lot of judgments. I just figure it’s better for me to listen for a while.”