O. C. IN BANKRUPTCY : VOICES : Readers Decry Officials, System in Wake of Crisis

Many Orange County residents reacted with frustration and anger at the county’s financial crisis. Here is a sampling of comments received from readers invited to telephone the newspaper’s TimesLine number with their comments.

“Obviously, (resigned County Treasurer-Tax Collector) Robert Citron has to take the major hit on this, but I believe that in any government system there is supposed to be a system of checks and balances. I would like to know what happened to them.

“Obviously, Mr. Citron did not do this all by himself. My own stockbroker told me that he would never, ever recommend derivatives to any of his clients, nor would he ever trade in them himself. What is a county government doing trading in one of the riskiest financial instruments there is, with our money?”

SUSAN BECRAFT, San Juan Capistrano

*

“What I saw with the County of Orange is really no different than what I’ve seen with a lot of individuals throughout the 1980s. People thought they were geniuses when it wasn’t that difficult to make money. . . . This county is notorious for people who overspend their budget on themselves. . . . I think that what happened with the county is really almost a metaphor for the way people live and play in Orange County.”

RON HALPERN, Laguna Niguel

*

“This bankruptcy is Orange County’s loss and we must pay the price for it. We have no right to go to Sacramento or Washington for a bailout. Citron was our elected treasurer and all five supervisors, also elected, had the power to investigate his office. None of these democratically elected officers did their job, but that is our fault, not Washington’s or Sacramento’s. If we’re going to tell other people to be responsible for their own lives, and not ask for welfare or a handout, then we in Orange County must be responsible too. This is our loss. We’ll have to pay for it through higher taxes, and that’s just too bad, but that’s the way it is.”

NED McCUNE, Costa Mesa

*

“Now that we have this crisis, the thing to do now is to look forward and not look backward, and the first thing I think we ought to do is to scrap all funds for the toll roads. Any of that work should be scrapped altogether since it is unnecessary to begin with.”

JIM PARKHURST, San Clemente

*

“Two things the citizens of Orange County can be assured of: First, Citron’s pension, which I understand amounts to $89,000 per year, will not be affected by this. Secondly, the supervisors’ car privileges will not be cut at all.”

LOUIS VARGO, Trabuco Canyon

*

“This Orange County crisis is very unfortunate. I can’t believe that Mr. Citron. I thought one of the first principles of investing was to diversify and not put all your eggs in one basket.

“It is very, very unfortunate, but I suspected something was going on. I have been fighting with the county tax assessment office in terms of what they have assessed my house for. They came up with a ridiculous 7% increase in my house value, which I can’t believe (particularly) in a falling real estate market.

“I wonder if these guys, because they knew there was some trouble, are going after some of the taxpayers in the county with these ridiculous assessments. I have to believe that I am one of many people here in the same boat.”

VICTOR LAZARUS, Anaheim Hills

*

“The direct fault or cause of the bond failure is the Federal Reserve Board. Its chairman, Alan Greenspan, and the Federal Reserve Board should be changed.

“The cause of the failure of the bond fund was a three-quarters of a point increase in interest rate of short-term interest.

“My feeling is that Citron could not move the bonds or change the structure of the fund after that. . . . If he tried to adjust the fund or do anything of that type, it would have caused a direct market crash and he had no ability to sell those bonds. I do not feel that it was directly his fault, but that it is definitely the fault of the Federal Reserve Board and Alan Greenspan.”

CHRIS LUTZ, South Laguna

*

“It’s fairly outrageous that one man can be left unsupervised to gamble with $20 billion, and it really is tantamount to going to Las Vegas and putting a bet on red or black.

“I find it curious that no one has ever mentioned, up until this year, that all Orange County tax bills were to be made out to Robert Citron, rather than the Orange County Tax Assessor. . . . I would suggest that your readers would have some questions if the IRS asked us to make our federal tax payments to Bill Clinton instead of the IRS. I think it is a reflection of the total state of mind of the county and its lax management of its affairs and the failure to observe basic Business 101 principles.”

ERIC JACKSON, Corona del Mar

*

“This is just another typical example of government irresponsibility at the same time preaching to its citizenry how to be responsible.”

VINCE MARINER, Brea

*

“The responsibility starts with Mr. Citron, but it really lies with all our elected officials. . . . I believe that they have a fiduciary responsibility to protect taxpayers funds. The money should be put in what I would call vanilla investments, whether they happen to be even blue-chip stocks or treasuries or triple-A or double-A rated corporate bonds.”

PAUL SCHNEIDER, Irvine

*

“I am outraged that the public officials of Orange County could take such large risks with public funds to earn such a meager return when there were more traditional investments available. In the opinion of the Wall Street experts that have been quoted in The Times, they said the portfolio of Orange County was frightening. Anything that would frighten a Wall Street veteran was something that Orange County shouldn’t have been investing in.”

CAROL MATHEIS, Foothill Ranch

*

“I fully believe that the total Board of Supervisors should be asked to resign. That is a drastic move, but this is an amazingly devastating situation and I really do believe that the Board of Supervisors is responsible for this--maybe not directly, but certainly indirectly because of (its) control of the county tax assessor’s office.”

BROR MONBERG, Newport Beach

*

“The thing that suffers the most is our county’s infrastructure, i.e., the schools, transportation system, the building libraries, all the things that are essential for the long-term growth of our community. This, coinciding with the numerous bank failures here in Orange County and across the nation, reflects a wanton disregard for sound financial planning on the part of our leaders here in the Orange County community. I think it is negligence. . . . Who is going to pay for it? Hopefully, those people who earned the most amount of money from these fraudulent dealings will pay. But I’m sure it won’t be; it will be the average American. The state and federal government, I am sure, will be called upon to help bail out the county for its criminal negligence.”

RAY ALLEN, Mission Viejo

*

“Time and time again, it is proven that slick politicians no longer have a place in local, state or federal government. We need to start electing people (who) have sharp pencils, not sharp tongues. It seems that Gov. Wilson had some trouble finding something to say (Tuesday). How about this, to those supervisors responsible for the problem: ‘Your letters of resignation must be on my desk by 5 p.m. tonight’? . . . Rather than worry about who is responsible, again I say get rid of them all, and wouldn’t this be a great time for Ross Perot?”

TIM McLAUGHLIN, Newport Beach

*

“I believe not only Bob Citron should resign, but I think that this should go to the top--this includes the supervisors, including (Board of Supervisors Chairman Thomas F.) Riley. Riley himself and everyone on his board should all be removed. Every member of the various cities, school districts and water districts who put their monies in the county fund investment--I believe that those people should all take responsibility and they should also resign, and I don’t believe the taxpayers should have the total burden of just coming up with extra money to fill in.”

JAMES KAZEL, Laguna Niguel

What’s Your Opinion?

* What are your thoughts on Orange County’s financial crisis? Now that Orange County has filed for bankruptcy protection, what should be done? What are the elements of recovery in the year ahead? We’d like your opinion for possible publication. To record a comment, call TimesLine at 808-8463 and press *8300. In the message, please spell your first and last name, provide your address and leave a phone number where you can be reached during the day or night. You can also fax us your comments--along with your name, city and phone number--at (714) 966-5663.

What’s Your Question?

* Do you have questions about the county’s bankruptcy filing? With the help of experts, we’ll attempt to deal with your questions and publish the answers. Leave your question on TimesLine by calling 808-8463 and press *8310. In the message, please spell your first and last name, provide your address and leave a phone number where you can be reached during the day or night.

Details on Times electronic services, B4