ORANGE COUNTY IN BANKRUPTCY : VOICES
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.
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I think the Orange County credit problem right now is due to the Proposition 13. Bob Citron was a hero in the county because his investments paid off so well that people didn’t have to be threatened by this kind of cash short fall. Now the chickens have come home to roost and we’re going to have to pay the price from our taxes now instead of borrowing money, borrowing spending until we get ourselves in such a mess.
HOWARD CARTWRIGHT,
ANAHEIM
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This is complete, total fiscal irresponsibility. Who is responsible? I feel it’s the entire Orange County government supervisors. It was a lack of oversight and absolutely irresponsible for the treasurer to leverage the financial accounts so that there is a possibility for the financial system going the opposite direction of his bet. It was total greed and outrageous. Playing the securities market is not for public funds.
PIERRE HANDL,
ANAHEIM
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This is going to have a huge trickle-down effect for everyone in the county, and it has a huge effect on financial markets for all municipalities. What led to the crisis? Lawyers and politicians lacking enough common sense to have laws in place to ensure safe investments are made with the public’s money. No public money should be able to be used to have a huge margin account. The portfolio was invested 3-to-1 on margins and very risky investments.
VINCE FRENCH,
IRVINE
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I feel that this whole crisis is the responsibility of the Board of Supervisors and Mr. Ernie Snyder. I feel Mr. Snyder should be removed from his office, he was the overseer to Mr. Citron. All the questions that were raised during the election, he never followed up on obviously and the same with the Board of Supervisors. They backed Mr. Citron the whole way, not once questioning any of his actions.
DENNIS HAMPTON,
IRVINE
