ORANGE COUNTY IN BANKRUPTCY : Committee Recommends Moorlach for Treasurer : Government: After two days of hearings, advisory panel backs him 4-1. Supervisors are ready to make it official today.

A special committee on Thursday recommended that the Board of Supervisors appoint John M.W. Moorlach as the county’s new treasurer-tax collector when they meet to consider the matter today.

The new Treasurer Oversight Committee, which consists of one appointee from each supervisorial district, voted 4 to 1 to recommend Moorlach after holding the second of two confirmation hearings this week.

The prospective appointee quipped upon arriving, “Here it is, my first job interview in 18 years and I’m a half-hour late. I apologize.”

Facing the committee, Moorlach, 39, listed his qualifications and his vision for the job of treasurer-tax-collector, a job for which at least four of the five supervisors already are poised to appoint him.

Supervisors Roger R. Stanton and Jim Silva attended a portion of Thursday night’s hearing and both said they are ready to vote him in today. “I think we ought to get on with it,” Stanton said shortly after the vote. “I will be voting to appoint Moorlach.”

Making a surprise appearance at the hearing and causing a ruckus was former congressman William E. Dannemeyer, a Moorlach supporter who marched up to the speaker’s podium and demanded to know immediately how each committee member would be voting, well before the panel had discussed the matter.

Parker Kennedy, appointed to the committee by Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez, said at that time that he did not think that Moorlach met the qualifications the committee had set the night before. Kennedy cast the lone vote against Moorlach.

“I’m not a politician and this is really not a lot of fun for me,” Kennedy said after he was verbally attacked by several members of the largely pro-Moorlach crowd. “I really don’t think this is the best way to select a candidate.”

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Supervisors have received wide criticism for not expanding the selection process past Moorlach, the Costa Mesa accountant who was an early critic of the county’s high-risk investment strategies when he unsuccessfully ran against incumbent Robert L. Citron last spring.

Citron, who served more than 20 years as treasurer-tax collector, resigned Dec. 4, two days before Orange County became the largest government entity in U.S. history to declare bankruptcy.

Earlier this month, the supervisors rejected a plan proposed by County Chief Executive Officer William J. Popejoy, and backed by outgoing interim treasurer-tax collector Thomas E. Daxon, to have a committee of five financial experts establish qualifications and criteria for the position and conduct a national search to fill it.

The confirmation hearings were presented as a compromise between the immediate appointment sought by Moorlach’s supporters and a nationwide search.

Moorlach said he was happy for the confirmation hearings because they gave him the opportunity to present his qualifications.

“At least I’ve had my day in the sun,” he said. “I’m not selecting the process, others are doing it. I didn’t say, ‘Don’t do a full search.’ ”

But Moorlach did say he believes his expected appointment today will suit Orange County residents.

“I believe the citizens of this county trust me and believe in my appointment,” Moorlach said. “If I were to run in a special election, I believe I would be elected.”

During their first hearing on Wednesday , the five-member panel adopted a list of qualifications for the job, including: an undergraduate degree in accounting, finance or economics from an accredited college; a minimum of 10 years’ experience in finance, accounting, investment brokerage-banking, law or economics, and at least four years in a managerial position.

Moorlach is a certified public accountant and certified financial planner. He is vice president of Balser, Horowitz, Frank & Wakeling, an accountancy corporation with offices in Costa Mesa and Long Beach. He has been with the company for 17 years.

Moorlach would serve either for the rest of Citron’s four-year term or until the next general election.

While Citron was the only Democrat in countywide elected office, Moorlach has been active in local Republican Party politics.