ORANGE COUNTY IN BANKRUPTCY : NOTEBOOK : Geography Plays a Big Part in One School District’s Financial Well-Being

Location, location, location: Officials with the Lowell Joint School District are grateful that most of their schools sit across the border from Orange County.

The district serves a portion of La Habra, but most campuses are in Whittier and other Los Angeles County communities. As a result, the district is required by law to invest its money in Los Angeles County’s bond pool.

“We’re thanking our guardian angel it worked out that way,” said school board member Jerry L. Powell.

Enticed several years ago by the high returns earned by the Orange County pool, Lowell officials looked at whether the district could put its money in the fund. “But we were told that it would be impossible for us because we are primarily a L.A. County school district,” Powell said.

And these days, that suits the district just fine. “We do feel that there but for the grace of God go I,” added school board member Fred W. Schambeck.

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Hitting home: The bond crisis might hit Seal Beach Leisure World residents where it hurts: on their phone bills.

Councilman William J. Doane said the crisis could prevent the City Council from its planned reduction of Seal Beach’s 11% utility tax, which is one of the highest in Southern California.

“People in (Leisure World) live for making long-distance phone calls,” he said. “It’s 11 cents for every dollar. People here are on fixed incomes.”

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Steady kingdom: Disneyland, which is Orange County’s largest employer, told workers this week that it does not foresee any short-term effects from the county’s bankruptcy filing.

The major ramifications of the bankruptcy filing on Disneyland and the Disneyland Hotel, which has a year-round employment base of about 6,000 and a summer peak of 12,000, will be delays in making freeway improvements that could speed visitors to the park, according to a memo issued by Disney. In particular, the memo cites a delay in the release of funds for the Santa Ana and Riverside freeways.

John McClintock, a Disneyland spokesman, said the “special bulletin” memos are periodically posted so employees can be kept abreast of important issues that could effect the park.

The memo does not address prospects for the Disneyland Resort of the future: the proposed $3-billion resort that would add a new theme park and hundreds of new hotel rooms to the Disneyland site. Walt Disney Co. officials say they are watching the situation develop and have disclosed no decisions about their plans for the resort.

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Local hero: While city leaders across Orange County met in emergency sessions over the past two weeks trying to assess the fallout from the financial crisis, it was practically business as usual at Garden Grove City Hall.

The city was one of the few in the county that didn’t invest in the pool. Garden Grove officials said they were uncomfortable with the county’s high-risk investment strategy.

On Tuesday night, the City Council moved to commemorate its good fortune by honoring Anthony Andrade, the city controller.

Andrade received the Community Spotlight award. The certificate that goes with the award lauded Andrade “for demonstrating excellent financial expertise.”

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Wallet talk: Lake Forest resident Dianna Baumann brought her fledgling recall effort to the Hall of Administration in Santa Ana on Tuesday, where the Board of Supervisors held its Tuesday meeting.

Baumann was busy handing out flyers, suggesting that residents mail empty wallets to county leaders to show their dismay over the financial turmoil. She also carried a red placard that stated: “All We Want For Christmas Is For All of Them to Resign or be Recalled.”

“We entrusted them to look after our interests,” she said. “. . . But they are not looking out for the taxpayer’s interests.”