Orange County, California, has dismissed its chief labor negotiator, after months of internal tumult over a pact she negotiated and several weeks after a county supervisor saw her having a champagne lunch with a top official from the sheriff's deputies union. After repeated inquiries in recent weeks, the county on Friday issued a statement saying that Dianna Garcia, director of human resources and employee relations, would be leaving her position at month's end. The statement from Thomas G. Mauk, the county's chief executive officer, gave no reason for her departure.
See "O.C. Labor Negotiator Who Lunched With Union Official Is Dismissed", Christian Berthelsen, Los Angeles Times, September 17, 2006