Citron to Face 1st Challenger in 23 Years : Politics: Costa Mesa accountant calls the incumbent county treasurer-tax collector a bureaucracy ‘lifer.’

For the first time since he was elected more than two decades ago, County Treasurer-Tax Collector Robert L. Citron will face a challenger in the June 7 election.

John M.W. Moorlach, a Costa Mesa accountant who is active in local Republican politics, announced his candidacy Monday for the post Citron has held since 1971.

Moorlach, 38, called Citron, 68, a government bureaucracy “lifer” and pointed out that Citron’s 23 years in office is longer than much of the electorate has been registered to vote.

“I’d like to have some new blood in there. I just want to provide some professional skepticism, do some digging,” said Moorlach, who grew up in Buena Park and has lived in Santa Ana and Costa Mesa since 1978. “I want to be a taxpayer advocate, represent the citizens. I want to provide a fresh face and give the voters a real chance at term limits.”

Citron said it is his long tenure and success in the post that qualify him to keep it.

A registered Democrat in a heavily Republican county, Citron has run unopposed since his first election and enjoys wide respect among local officials and colleagues across the state.

He was originally elected just tax collector, but in 1973 the County Board of Supervisors decided to merge the treasurer’s and tax collector’s jobs into one.

As treasurer, Citron manages a massive investment portfolio that includes county funds from 187 local government agencies. His investment accounts total $7.5 billion and have long offered municipalities higher interest rates than the state or other county treasurers’ offices.

“This is an office that takes a great deal of experience,” Citron said Monday. “The kind of success I’ve had on behalf of my constituency has been such that it gives me a great thrill to be able to assist and help these many districts.

“Any time you have somebody running against you, you take it seriously,” Citron said. “But I believe with my years and my excellent reputation of what I’ve done in my office, we’ll be reelected.”

Moorlach, who was elected assistant treasurer of Orange County’s Republican Party in 1992, has spent the last 17 years as an accountant and is a partner in the firm of Balser, Horowitz, Frank and Wakeling. He writes a local newspaper column and hosts a cable television program, “The Costa Mesa Conservative Report.”

Though he had considered a bid for the Assembly seat being vacated by Gil Ferguson (R-Newport Beach), Moorlach said he chose to run for the county post instead, so he could stay close to his wife and three children.

In his announcement, he focused on Citron’s long tenure and said he would push for prompt reassessments and lower property taxes.

“I have the background. I’m someone from the private sector that can step in and give it a fresh look rather than someone from inside,” he said. “I think the citizens should have someone that represents them as opposed to the county bureaucracy.”