ORANGE COUNTY IN BANKRUPTCY : No Honeymoon Likely in Bergeson’s Homecoming : Politics: State senator’s deregulation bills haunt her as she makes transition to Orange County supervisor. Some say she helped pave way for crisis.

These are her last days in the state Legislature, but it’s no swan song. Instead, Sen. Marian Bergeson is doing a swan dive straight into Orange County’s stormy political surf.

As the county grapples with its devastating bankruptcy and investment crisis, Bergeson will be assuming a seat on the Board of Supervisors after the New Year. For perhaps the first time in her long career as a public servant, she will be carting along some cumbersome political baggage.

In recent weeks, critics have pointed out that Bergeson carried several bills that were among a string of state measures approved in recent years to deregulate the public investment process, paving the way for Orange County’s troubles.

They have also criticized Bergeson’s decision in May to “unendorse” John M. W. Moorlach, the Republican financial planner and certified public accountant who raised questions about Orange County’s investment practices during his election campaign against county Treasurer-Tax Collector Robert L. Citron, who resigned Dec. 5 after the investment debacle surfaced.

Among Orange County’s increasingly angry electorate, even Bergeson--who has long enjoyed a Teflon reputation--could face some testy days ahead.

“If she had anything to do with this, she should not take office,” said Carole Walters, president of the Orange Taxpayers Assn. and one of several residents fomenting a recall effort against the current supervisors. “I think anyone who is behind these bills should step down. They have ripped the taxpayers off.”

But many others, particularly those who have worked with Bergeson, say the veteran lawmaker is part of the solution.

“I just don’t think Marian deserves to shoulder a lot of the blame,” said Eileen Padberg, an Orange County political consultant. “Her reputation as a legislator who can get things done will override any of the baggage.”

Supervisor Thomas F. Riley, whose 5th District seat Bergeson will assume Monday, said Bergeson “doesn’t deserve any blame in this” and he will “say a prayer for her” as she embarks into the stormy days ahead.

Bergeson, 69, acknowledges that she faces the toughest test of her political career, both in helping the county recover and overcoming the growing public anger.

“There’s a lot of outrage out there and a lot of hurt and it’s not going to get better right away,” she said. “It’s going to take time. I’m only concerned about establishing sufficient credibility and helping to work things through. I think you gain the trust of the public through your actions.”

But Bergeson will have to overcome the skepticism of disgruntled Orange County residents who blame the veteran legislator and other Sacramento lawmakers for loosening the leash on county treasurers such as Citron.

Bergeson sponsored at least three bills dealing with local investment authority, including one that permitted local governments to invest in lower-grade, A-rated securities rather than safer AAA-rated offerings. She also served as chairwoman of the Senate Local Government Committee, which reviewed and approved many of the deregulation bills.

The measures were fueled by a belief that local governments needed more tools to finance services in the aftermath of tax-cutting Proposition 13, Bergeson said. She suggested that the laws giving county treasurers greater autonomy did not cause Orange County’s problem--that the trouble was public officials who stretched the laws to the limit.

That is a view shared by many investment bankers, including one who was disappointed when Bergeson withdrew her support of Moorlach.

“There’s really nothing wrong with the flexibility added to the investment standards,” said Chriss W. Street, an investment banker and Moorlach supporter. “Cars aren’t inherently dangerous, but dangerous drivers are always dangerous.”

Even some critics of the Legislature’s efforts to deregulate public finance do not lay much blame on Bergeson.

Kim Alexander, executive director of the nonprofit California Voter Foundation, characterized Bergeson as “more a victim of the conditions of the legislative process than a culprit.”

Alexander said the real problem lies in the inability of lawmakers and their overburdened staffs to regularly perform any sort of concise review of the proliferating maze of complex legislation that rolls through the Capitol each year.

Some county politicians remain mildly ruffled over Bergeson’s treatment of Moorlach during his quest to unseat Citron. Bergeson said she withdrew her endorsement because the race for the nonpartisan treasurer’s seat had become politicized and she worried that Moorlach’s criticisms of Citron’s investment strategy could damage the county’s credit rating on Wall Street.

Insiders say Bergeson “agonized” over pulling her endorsement, and in recent days she has made no secret that she would probably support Moorlach’s appointment as county treasurer in the future.

“I think everybody was kind of asleep at the switch,” Bergeson said. “When John’s warnings were sounded there should have been immediate attention by those who had authority to do so.”

Moorlach has not held a grudge, but he says it was painful when Bergeson pulled her support. “I won’t say it cost me the race, but it sure had an impact.

“I told her that when this thing hits the fan, she was going to find herself on the wrong side of the leadership curve,” Moorlach said. “Now it has hit. Whether it has muddied her, I can’t really say.”

Even so, Moorlach added, “just because she made a tragic error in judgment on my campaign, I don’t see that as being a big enough reason to believe she won’t do a good job.”