SEAL BEACH : Mayor Made New Finance Panel Chair

Mayor George Brown was named finance committee chairman of the Orange County Sanitation District on Wednesday night, replacing Peer Swan, who resigned after some board members expressed concerns over possible conflict of interest.

Swan, vice chairman of the sanitation district and board chairman of the Irvine Ranch Water District, will remain on the finance committee.

“He was drawing $50 million a week out of the county investment pool for” the Irvine Ranch Water District, said Brown, a retired accountant and Leisure World resident. “People here were feeling that there was a conflict of interest.”

Swan, who also serves as chairman of District 14 within the sanitation district, said he stepped down “to keep some peace in the family.”

“A couple of people thought I should have told them about the condition of the county treasury,” Swan said. “I didn’t see how that was possible without starting a run on the fund.”

Irvine Councilman Barry J. Hammond, the city’s representative on the sanitation district board, said Swan should remove himself from his two other leadership roles.

“He had a dual fiduciary but he only honored one,” Hammond said. “That’s why I think he should at least resign from his leadership roles.”

Swan said he withdrew $100 million in water district funds from the county investment pool in November to try to force county officials to review the portfolio. He stopped withdrawing water district funds after county officials agreed to his request.