O.C. IN BANKRUPTCY : REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK : Don’t Bet on Citron Being in Las Vegas With Activist

Unlikely couple: Huntington Beach political activist Bill Mello has emerged as a vocal critic of county officials in the wake of the financial crisis. But that doesn’t mean he’s lost his sense of humor.

Mello, a leader of a taxpayers’ group called the Committees of Correspondence, is out of town this week.

The greeting on his answering machine says he’s not traveling alone.

“Hi. Bob Citron and I will be playing blackjack in Vegas until the 30th,” Mello jokes in the message, which goes on to wish callers happy holidays.

Citron resigned as county treasurer-tax collector earlier this month.

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No comment: As city officials scurry to complete a questionnaire sent to them by Securities and Exchange Commission investigators on the troubled investment pool, Villa Park City Manager Fred Maley is putting his foot down.

“It’s a fishing expedition,” he said Wednesday, adding that he doesn’t plan to complete the 10-page questionnaire.

Maley said he’s focusing his energies on the city’s financial situation and doesn’t believe anything would be accomplished by answering a series of questions about the city’s dealings with the county treasurer’s office.

“I considered it to be inflammatory,” he said. “To me, it doesn’t aid the situation.”

Maley said the city attorney informed him that Villa Park is under no legal obligation to complete the questionnaire.

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Can they afford a dictionary?: Irvine city officials have spent the last month trying to convince worried residents that the city is not teetering on the brink of financial collapse.

Calming fears has proved difficult because of the city’s hefty $209-million investment in the county pool.

Officials insist that the city doesn’t have any short-term cash flow problems because it placed funds in several investments, not just the county’s pool. “We didn’t put all of our eggs in that one basket,” City Manager Paul O. Brady Jr. said.

At a council meeting Tuesday, Brady tried his best to eliminate one worst-case scenario for residents. “ ‘Bankruptcy’ is not even in our vocabulary,” he declared.

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No sunny day at the park: Because of the financial crisis, county parks were closed Monday. But that didn’t stop hundreds of people from attempting to enjoy a day-after-Christmas picnic at Irvine Regional Park.

Sheriff’s deputies discovered the picnickers after noticing more than 100 cars parked illegally along Santiago Canyon Road near the park.

“The gates were padlocked with signs posted all over the place,” Sheriff’s Lt. Tom Garner said. “So to get around that, people parked illegally and walked in.”

They were all told that their vehicles would be towed if they didn’t move them, Garner said. By about 2 p.m., everyone had packed up and left the area, he added.

County parks will also be closed Monday.

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Helping hand: With $12.8 million of its money tied up in the troubled investment pool, the Tustin Unified School District is turning to an old-fashioned fund-raising technique: a garage sale.

On Jan. 11-12, school district officials said they plan to sell old furniture, chairs, desks, fans, file cabinets, tables, televisions, typewriters, vacuum cleaners and other surplus district property.

Although the garage sale is held every year, officials said the event has taken on more urgency this time because of the financial crisis.

Two weeks ago, the school board approved more than $1 million in cuts, including a halt to the purchase of new equipment and supplies.

“Anything that can bring money into the district is a special event this year,” said Trustee Jonathan W. Abelove.

The sale will take place at the district’s Support Services Facility, 1302 Service Road, Tustin.

Money from the garage sale would be used to buy needed classroom supplies.