GARDEN GROVE : School Trustees Call for Return of Funds

The Garden Grove Unified School District Board of Trustees has approved a resolution calling on county officials to reimburse all money that was placed in the county’s failed investment fund.

The resolution, passed unanimously at the board’s regular meeting Tuesday night, demands that county officials “prepare and present a plan of adjustment, which provides for payment in full to all participants in the Orange County investment pool.”

It also called for investment pool participants to oppose any plan that does not include full repayment.

“We are the innocent victim of some financial shenanigans going on at the county, and we are deserving of 100%,” Supt. Ron Walter said.

The district invested about $54.5 million in the county’s collapsed $7-billion fund and stands to lose about $17 million, including interest income, the district’s business manager, Art Becker, told the board.

The resolution did not identify how the county should come up with the money to repay investors.

Trustees Terry Cantrell and Bob Harden voiced concerns that residents might have to pay higher taxes as a result.

“We are not culpable, and the taxpayers are not culpable either,” Cantrell said.

Harden added that the county should avoid raising taxes. “The ‘T-word’ should not even be considered,” he said.

Trustee Joyce T. Johnson said the important thing was for the resolution to underscore the investors’ common interest in being repaid expeditiously.

“We’re just saying we want our money, and we want it all,” she said.