ANAHEIM : Citizen Panel to Study City’s Investments

The City Council this week unanimously endorsed creating a citizens’ Investment Review Commission to monitor the city’s $874-million investment portfolio.

The committee, to be made up of seven Anaheim residents with financial expertise, would meet four to six times a year and report back to the council.

Operational details must be worked out by city staff, but the panel’s meetings would be open to the public, just as Planning Commission and Budget Advisory Commission meetings are.

Creation of the panel was recommended by Councilman Bob Zemel, who said Orange County’s bankruptcy is a lesson in how elected governmental leaders need to better understand complicated financial matters.

“I’m the first one to admit that I don’t have the financial expertise to put my signature on the line,” Zemel said. “We need more checks and balances, something the county probably wishes they had.”

Anaheim has $169 million in the county’s bankrupt investment pool and borrowed $95 million last year to invest in the fund. The county fund had netted the city nearly $12 million over the three preceding fiscal years.

The city already has an investment committee that consists of a handful of city department heads, a representative of the private financial sector and an external auditor. The group, which oversees city investments, does not hold public meetings.

City Manager James D. Ruth said there might be a way to incorporate parts of the existing committee into the citizen panel.

“I’m not so sure we need both,” Ruth said. “I think there’s a way to structure this so that it would satisfy everyone.”