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ByBrandonBaileyand Michael Liedtke TheAssociatedPress SAN FRANCISCO Tenyears after GOP presidential candidate Carly Fiorina was unceremoniously fired from her job as chief execu- tive of Hewlett-Packard, her tumultuous business career is still the subject of heated discussion. Even as she enjoys a surge in momentum after last week's Republican de- bate, Fiorina is facing more jibes about her tenure at HP. Rival candidate Donald Trump declared her time there "a disaster," after Fio- rina boasted of HP's growth and the "tough choices" she made as CEO. The truth is, her HP ten- ure was rocky. "It is pretty hard to find too many peo- ple who think she did a great job there," said jour- nalist Peter Burrows, who wrote "Backfire," a book about Fiorina's reign at HP. "Her reputation is definitely tarnished in Silicon Valley." Yet one outspoken Fio- rina supporter is venture capitalist Tom Perkins, who clashed with Fiorina when he was on HP's board but now says it was a mistake to dump her. "I think she is brilliant and has gotten a lot of unwarranted criti- cism," Perkins told The As- sociated Press. Some issues the 61-year- old Fiorina has encountered in her career: Fiorina likes to say she "doubled the size" of HP while she was CEO from 1999 to 2005. She's refer- ring to HP's annual reve- nue, which rose above $80 billion after Fiorina pushed through a 2002 deal to buy Texascomputer-makerCom- paq, which had $40 billion in annual sales before the deal. HP, however, continued to struggle after the mas- sive acquisition. Profit fell from $3.7 billion in 2000 to a net loss of $900 million in 2002. While profit recovered to $3.5 billion in 2004, the company missed some key earnings projections along the way. To be sure, the 2001 dot- com bust hurt many tech companies, including HP. But despite Fiorina's ef- forts to cut costs by slash- ing 30,000 jobs, HP's stock fell 50 percent, lagging be- hind rivals IBM and Dell. She was ultimately fired af- ter clashing with directors who pressed her to share authoritywithsubordinates. HP's performance im- proved under Fiorina's suc- cessor, Mark Hurd. He cut costs further, using the com- bined clout of HP and Com- paqtonegotiatelowerprices from suppliers and sell busi- nesses a wide range of tech products. While supporters credit Fiorina with the vi- sion to buy Compaq, crit- ics including former Com- paq Chairman Ben Rosen said she lacked the skills to make the deal work. Today, HP is struggling again after a series of man- agement upheavals and a broad decline in the PC in- dustry. It announced plans last week to cut up to 30,000 more jobs as it prepares to split into two companies. Unlike many tech CEOs, Fiorina had a background in business but not engi- neering. She earned an un- dergraduate degree in medi- eval history and philosophy at Stanford, and later ac- quired master's degrees in business and management. Perkins called her "a ter- rific communicator" who used charisma and persua- sion to close major deals for the company. Even so, Fiorina alienated longtimeHPemployees,who complained she was imperi- ous and harsh. Part of the problem: HP was famous for innovation, but analysts say it had become slow and un- focused in the years before Fiorina. "The hardest thing for a chief executive to do is to tell someonethattheydon'thave a job anymore," Fiorina said this week on "Fox News Sun- day." "But when you have a big, bloated bureaucracy that costs too much, that is becoming inept — and by the way, that's what we have in Washington, D.C. — then therearesomejobsthathave to go away." Fiorina also antagonized the families of HP's leg- endary co-founders. Wal- ter Hewlett, the son of co- founder William Hewlett, waged a bruising, highly publicized proxy battle against the Compaq acqui- sition. He argued that Fio- rina was paying far too much in a deal ultimately valued at $19 billion. In the end, Fiorina got the deal approved. But she ultimately lost the support of HP's board, which grew impatient with her prog- ress. POLITICS Fi or in a' s car ee r as t ec h CE O is still a matter of debate THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Then-Hewlett Packard Company Chief Executive Officer Carly Fiorina, center, smiles during a news conference a er she toured the Y2K Command Center at HP headquarters in Palo Alto in 1999. DAN COYRO — SANTA CRUZ SENTINEL A.J. Gonzalez, the minor accused of killing 8-year-old Maddy Middleton at the Tannery Arts Center apartment complex, is flanked by defense attorneys Larry Biggam and Leila Sayar as Gonzalez answers questions during his arraignment Monday morning. By Stephen Baxter sbaxter@santacruzsentinel. com @sbaxter_sc on Twitter SANTA CRUZ Adrian Jere "A.J." Gonzalez, the Santa Cruz 15-year-old accused of killing 8-year-old Mady- son Middleton at the Tan- nery Arts Center, on Mon- day pleaded not guilty to murder, forcible rape, lewd acts with a child younger than 14 and rape by instru- ment. Santa Cruz police and prosecutors have said Mid- dleton was tied up in Gon- zalez' family's apartment, beaten, raped and dumped in a garage recycling bin where she was killed by positional asphyxiation. Monday morning, Gon- zalez appeared in Santa Cruz County Superior Court in Juvenile Hall-is- sued khaki pants and a green shirt. Charged as an adult, he appeared solemn and simply said, "Yes," when asked if he waived his right to a speedy trial. Judge Timothy Volkmann ordered him back to court Oct. 29 to set a date for a preliminary hearing. On the courthouse steps, Madyson's father, Mike Middleton, said he had "already forgiven" A.J. Speaking publicly for the first time and sur- rounded by supporters, he said he did not attend the court hearing because he wanted to draw atten- tion to Madyson. He said he wanted,"To show that I'm supporting her mem- ory. To keep some of the focus on her." Fighting back tears un- der black sunglasses and a hat, he said, "Justice will happen regardless of what I think. It's not up to me. I thinkMadysonwouldwant it this way, would want for me to not have hatred and anger. You just don't want this to happen again." He described Maddy as a "sweet angel," and some of his fondest memories of her were running on the beach and playing in the ocean. Mike Middleton and Laura Jordan, Maddy's parents, were divorced but Miketypicallysawheronce or twice a week, he said. Gonzalez faces life in prison if convicted, Santa Cruz County District At- torney Jeff Rosell said. 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