Irvine, Flush With Pool Funds, to Pick Treasurer

The City Council on Tuesday will consider how to fill the position of city treasurer, which has been vacant since last month.

Jeff Niven, manager of fiscal services, was stripped of his title as treasurer in April after council members reviewed a massive report on the city’s involvement in Orange County’s failed investment pool.

The report stated that city employees broke no laws and violated no city policies, but council members said Niven was removed because of concerns over his investment decisions.

Niven could not be reached for comment Friday, but he has previously defended his actions as treasurer.

“I had reliance on what the county was telling me,” he said earlier. “There has to be a point in time when you trust some people.”

The city’s investment committee, formed in response to the county’s Dec. 6 bankruptcy, will offer recommendations to council members on the position of treasurer. The post is expected to be filled on a part-time basis by the end of June.

“We’re going to be looking very closely at this,” Mayor Michael Ward said.

Niven and Ward were at the county treasurer’s office Friday morning, where they received five checks totaling $150 million in investment pool disbursements.

They temporarily deposited the funds at a Bank of America branch near South Coast Plaza, where the money will earn about $50,000 in interest over the weekend, Ward said.

The city plans to use part of the money to pay off $65 million in bond debt two months early, Ward said, which will save the city about $67,000 in interest charges. The rest of the money will go into the state investment pool until council members determine how to invest it.