ORANGE COUNTY IN BANKRUPTCY : BOND TICKER : Group Urges Search for Treasurer : Business Council says CEO Popejoy should establish screening committee. It terms ‘intolerable’ Steve Lewis’ decision to remain auditor-controller after being called on to resign.

The Orange County Business Council on Thursday urged the Board of Supervisors to conduct a full and open search before appointing a new county treasurer-tax collector and described as an “intolerable management situation” Auditor-Controller Steve E. Lewis’ decision to remain in office after Chief Executive Officer William J. Popejoy called on him to resign.

In a letter to Board Chairman Gaddi H. Vasquez, the business council suggested that Popejoy establish a screening committee to evaluate candidates for the treasurer job.

Whoever wins the appointment would probably serve out the remaining 3 1/2 years of former Treasurer-Tax Collector Robert L. Citron’s term of office. Citron, reelected to another four-year term last June, resigned Dec. 4, two days before Orange County became the largest governmental entity in U.S. history to declare bankruptcy.

Four of the five supervisors have said they will probably give Citron’s job to Costa Mesa accountant John M. W. Moorlach, who ran unsuccessfully against Citron last year.

Last week, the board rejected a plan proposed by Popejoy to have a committee of financial experts establish qualifications and criteria for the position, and then conduct a national search to fill it.

The letter, by council President Todd B. Nicholson, also took aim at Lewis, who has been criticized for his weak oversight of the treasurer’s office.

Popejoy has asked Lewis to resign, but Lewis refused. Because he is an elected official, Lewis cannot be fired by either Popejoy or the Board of Supervisors.

“We urge the board to give its CEO maximum support and flexibility in working around and through this problem, as he deems appropriate,” Nicholson wrote in the letter.

Lewis could not be reached for comment, but in a statement last week, he defended his record and said he was “hopeful that we can find a way to work together for the benefit of the county.”

The Committees of Correspondence, an anti-tax organization, has vowed to recall Lewis.

Two Tax Checks Stolen From Treasurer’s Office and Cashed

At least two property tax checks were stolen from the Orange County treasurer-tax collector’s office and cashed, Sheriff Brad Gates said Thursday.

The two checks, worth a total of about $2,300, were written by property owners who had left the name of the payee blank, apparently because of the resignation of Treasurer-Tax Collector Robert L. Citron, Gates said at a news conference.

The suspect is a former temporary worker, Gates said. The name used by the individual cashing the checks was Johnny Manuel Rivera, authorities said.

The apparent forgery was discovered when the homeowners received delinquency notices and complained to county officials they had paid their bills.

It was not immediately clear who would absorb the loss--property owners or the county.

Gates and Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez asked that any other homeowners who had paid their property tax bills but received delinquency notices call the Orange County Sheriff’s Fraud Unit at (714) 647-7486.

Additionally, they said that future property tax payments be made out to: Orange County Treasurer-Tax Collector’s Office.

Waste Advisory Panel Frowns on Plan to Close Irvine Landfill

Members of an advisory committee to the county’s Integrated Waste Management Department expressed doubts Thursday about a proposal by Chief Executive Officer William J. Popejoy to cut costs by laying off 50 workers and closing the Bowerman Landfill in Irvine.

Waste Commission members also complained that Popejoy and the Board of Supervisors aren’t seeking their advice before making decisions about waste management issues.

Members have criticized the idea of closing the landfill, saying the move would force local trash haulers to drive further to dump their loads and cause garbage collection fees to increase.

Phil Sansone, former Newport Beach councilman who is chairman of the Waste Commission, said it didn’t make sense to force budget reductions on a department that generates $12 million in annual revenue above its operating costs.

“I don’t understand why you would consider reducing personnel, when waste management (produces) a surplus without using any tax money,” he said.

Sansone said he feared the county might attempt to use reserve funds and revenue generated by the department to dig itself out of the bankruptcy.

City officials from Laguna Hills and San Juan Capistrano also opposed a proposal to generate revenue by importing as much as 5,000 tons of trash a day from outside the county. San Juan Capistrano officials have said such a move would clog city streets leading to a South County landfill.

Mission Viejo Doesn’t Want to Buy Library From County

Don’t expect Mission Viejo to jump at the chance to purchase the county library located in its city.

The library--one of nine the county wants to sell--is too small to serve the city of 84,000 residents, city officials said.

“I would say the city’s initial reaction is we wouldn’t want to buy that building,” said Mission Viejo City Manager Dan Joseph, describing the facility as “worthless.”

Before the bankruptcy, Mission Viejo had hoped the county would hand the library over to the city, which in turn would sell it and use the proceeds toward building a larger library. Those talks are now on hold.

Compiled by Times correspondent Shelby Grad with Matt Lait and Alan Eyerly.