Jackson – The Amador County Board of Supervisors approved adoption of an ordinance Tuesday that will transfer the office of the Public Conservator and Public Guardian over to Social Services, citing “conflicts of interest.” Discussion of the move from the District Attorney’s office began after the former conservator was charged with embezzlement shortly before 2001. County Administrative Officer Terri Daly said there will now be “several additional levels of oversight” under the supervision of Social Services Director Matt Zanze and Carolyn McDonald, Chief Deputy Public Conservator for Amador County. Zanze said stamps were used by the former conservator during the embezzlement, but any approval will now require both his signature and McDonald’s. In 1996, the Board of Supervisors enacted Ordinance Number 1413, which consolidated the elected offices of district attorney and public administrator. After the embezzlement scheme, in which an undisclosed amount of money was stolen by the former conservator, supervisors reevaluated the consolidation in order to provide the “office with more structure and a system of checks and balances.” Daly said problems arose when clients of the Conservator’s office became clients of the D.A.’s office. To avoid this conflict of interest, clients are currently referred out of the county, which often proves more costly and time consuming. The new ordinance states that “in order to achieve efficiencies and allow the district attorney to focus on law enforcement, Amador County has elected to separate the offices of district attorney and public administrator, and combine the appointive offices of public administrator and public guardian/conservator.” The two offices will be separated effective January 1, 2010 pursuant to the authority granted in California government code. Daly said this will add Amador County to a growing list of counties that make the conservator part of Social Services. Zanze said his department “has a depth of financial expertise to lend” and “will be happy to accommodate any changes.” Story by Alex Lane This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it