ORANGE COUNTY IN BANKRUPTCY : Elected Officials Hope Citron’s Admissions Take Heat Off Them : Reaction: Many say it shows they were his victims, not accomplices. Critics say there’s blame to go around.

From city halls to the County Hall of Administration, elected officials expressed hope Friday that a time of healing could begin in the aftermath of former Treasurer-Tax Collector Robert L. Citron’s guilty pleas.

Citron’s acknowledgment that he misappropriated funds and misled investors may quell recriminations and help the county begin to recover from its financial crisis, some said.

“Hopefully, this will bring a sense of closure,” said Supervisor William G. Steiner, who nevertheless said he was jolted by the gravity of Citron’s guilty pleas.

City and school district leaders who placed millions of dollars in the county’s ill-fated investment pool said Friday that Citron’s admissions prove they are victims, not culprits, in the bankruptcy.

The officials expressed hope that Citron’s actions will put an end to public anger against them and, in the words, of Irvine Councilman Barry J. Hammond, “begin a healing process in Orange County.”

Hammond, Irvine Councilwoman Paula Werner and Mayor Michael Ward are the targets of a recall campaign because they voted to borrow $60 million and invest it in the pool to increase the city’s revenue. Those officials have staunchly defended themselves, saying their votes were based on false information provided by Citron.

“I think that this once again shows that the city is the victim of a crime,” Hammond said. “I would hope that the critics out there would stop punishing the victims and focus on doing positive things for the community.”

Added Buena Park City Manager Kevin O’Rourke: “I think (Citron’s) admission should clarify to the finger-pointers what the truth is. He was acting improperly and illegally, and we were taken to the cleaners.”

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But some don’t believe that Citron’s guilty pleas let city and school leaders off the hook.

“They made errors in judgment,” said new county Treasurer-Tax Collector John M.W. Moorlach, whose warnings last year about Citron’s risky investment strategy went unheeded by many investors.

Moorlach said Friday that all elected officials who voted to borrow money to place in the county pool should resign.

“By stepping aside, they would show that it’s not business as usual,” he said. “There needs to be a sense of change . . . (to) restore credibility.”

Four school districts--Irvine Unified, Placentia-Yorba Linda, Newport-Mesa, and the North Orange County Community College District along with the Orange County Department of Education--placed about $250 million in borrowed money into the pool. Several cities also invested large sums of money.

Moorlach said it doesn’t make sense to have the same officials who invested that money crafting recovery plans.

He also accused the officials of breaking “a basic principle of finance” and “building a house of cards.”

Supervisor Roger R. Stanton said the pleas remove blame from the supervisors by showing Citron caused the crisis.

“I feel good that at least there is some accountability being directed at who is really responsible,” Stanton said. “This gets a lot of weight off of our back and allows us to work more effectively to solve problems.”

County Chief Executive Officer William J. Popejoy agreed.

“I hope what it does is help get the county citizens past the anger stage and allow them and us to focus more on resolutions of the problems that we have,” Popejoy said. “Very little is accomplished by being mad. While anger is justified because the county has been poorly served, Citron’s plea of guilty will hopefully allow us to focus more on the job of putting a solution in place.”

But critics were quick to assert that others still deserve a share of the blame for the financial fiasco despite Citron’s guilty pleas.

“I think a lot more people need to answer to this,” said Carole Walters, a leader of the Committees of Correspondence, a citizens watchdog group.

“Citron should not be the only one to fall. I think Citron is being used as a scapegoat and that a lot more people should be found guilty. I still think the supervisors need to answer to the people.”

Times staff writer Matt Lait contributed to this report.