ORANGE COUNTY IN BANKRUPTCY : VOICES

Orange County residents have reacted strongly to the county’s financial crisis. Here is a sampling of comments from readers who called TimesLine, the Times’ phone-in line, with their thoughts. To leave a comment on TimesLine for possible publication, call 808-8463 from a touch-tone phone and press category *8300. In your message, please leave your first and last name, address and a phone number where you can be reached during the day or night. You can also us your comments--with your name, city and phone number--at (714) 966-5663.

In high school economics, we learned the relationship of risk and reward, and it seems somewhat hypocritical for all the cities now to be criticizing Robert Citron when they went to him for that extra interest that he could earn....They had to know--and if they didn’t, they shouldn’t have been managing municipal funds--that they were incurring a greater risk by that higher interest rate.

NANCY GARDNER, CORONA DEL MAR

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I want to know why we’re always blaming the welfare moms and illegal immigrants for all of the state’s and country’s problems when in fact it’s the bankers and real estate developers and lawyers and insurance agents that cause all the financial problems. Look at the savings and loan crisis, now Orange County’s bankruptcy. This wasn’t caused by these poor people, it was caused by the rich investors.

JOYCE KERLEY, CYPRESS

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I find it impossible to believe that one man can have so much authority over such a large fund as this....And to find out that my own town of San Clemente has $35 million in the investment pool, which seems inappropriate, makes me even more concerned. I think to give this man so much authority is absurd.

BOB LUTZ, SAN CLEMENTE

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It is incomprehensible to me that the top financial people, including (Robert L.) Citron, did not know what would happen to the fund if interest rates kept climbing. This is such a fundamental, simple issue for many investors.

WALTER LIEBERMAN, IRVINE