William j popejoy biography

So many say government should be run like a business — but William J. Popejoy came to understand that such a thing is nearly impossible.

Popejoy, an energetic financier with a sharp tongue, penchant for public service and deep mischievous streak, stepped in as Orange County’s first CEO in — for $1 a year — as it reeled after declaring the largest municipal bankruptcy in history.

He exited five months later with the bankruptcy unresolved, a first-hand lesson in the brutality of politics and newfound knowledge that the ways of business do not graft naturally to the halls of government.

“I was willing to do the job for nothing,” Popejoy quipped after county supervisors neutralized the CEO’s power, “but I’m not willing to do nothing on the job.”

Popejoy, who lived in Newport Beach, died Saturday, Oct.

12, from complications related to Parkinson’s disease, according to longtime friend Paul Nussbaum. He was

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