O.C. IN BANKRUPTCY : Of Lawyers, Resolutions--and Anger : Local governments: City and school officials take a measured, cautious approach. Some hire legal help, others pass legislation. And the ire is universal.

A week after Orange County filed for bankruptcy, a dozen local government agencies met Monday night to plot strategy for responding to the ongoing financial fiasco.

Some hired attorneys. Others passed resolutions. And for some, it was just a chance to vent.

“It’s inconceivable that one person could create such a catastrophe,” said Anthony R. Selvaggi, during his last meeting as mayor of Los Alamitos. “It’s mind-boggling that this thing could happen.”

Still, most agencies took a measured, cautious approach:

* Huntington Beach officials met in closed session with a bankruptcy attorney from the San Francisco law firm Poppin & Shier and a financial adviser from the consulting firm Stone and Youngberg.

The city will postpone all capital projects not under way, continue its hiring freeze and keep operating expenses to a minimum, meeting payroll with money not tied up in the county pool, officials said. “We are all waiting for the dust to settle from the financial earthquake that has shaken Orange County,” Mayor Victor Leipzig said.

* La Palma and Seal Beach each took an even smaller step, simply authorizing city administrators to join other cities that have already hired a private bankruptcy attorney.

“There will be no interruption of payroll, no interruption of employees and every project now in motion will continue,” La Palma Mayor Wally D. Linn said at the city’s meeting.

Seal Beach Mayor George Brown, though, worried about the expense of fighting on the legal front. “There is no way in God’s world that we can afford to hire the kinds of attorneys they are talking about,” he said.

* In Los Alamitos, City Manager Robert C. Dunek assured council members that the city has no outstanding debts, and that investments from other funds should offset any losses from the city’s $2.2 million now frozen in the county pool. But Dunek said local street improvement projects would likely be slowed because they are being funded by the Orange County Transportation Authority, the largest of the pool’s 187 investors.

* Joining several other school districts, Brea-Olinda Unified trustees passed a resolution urging the county to segregate all incoming funds earmarked for schools, and discussed becoming part of a group of school districts represented by the law firm Best, Best & Krieger.

The school board also voted to send a letter to their representative on the County Board of Supervisors, Gaddi H. Vasquez, urging him for better ongoing communication during the crisis. “I just think that Gaddi has been a phantom,” Assistant Supt. Gary Goff said, “and I think we should put him on the spot and ask him for help.”

* Capistrano Unified trustees met in closed session late Monday to consider a resolution similar to Brea-Olinda’s and to discuss joining with Saddleback Valley Unified in hiring a bankruptcy attorney.

Earlier in the meeting, several school board members hesitated before approving a normally routine certification of the school district’s budget and sending it on to the state.

“I’m not willing to put my name on something that says we can meet our obligations when we don’t know what’s happening,” Capistrano Unified trustee Crystal Kochendorfer said.

Times staff writer Jodi Wilgoren and correspondents Jeff Bean, Debra Cano, Shelby Grad and Mimi Ko contributed to this report.