ORANGE COUNTY IN BANKRUPTCY : Panelist Says Moorlach Not Ready for Pool

A member of the county’s Treasury Oversight Committee on Tuesday said Orange County Treasurer-Tax Collector John M.W. Moorlach has not yet demonstrated that he is capable of managing the county’s $3.4-billion investment pool.

“I know that you are doing your best to learn more each day, but I’m sure that we both realize that money management experience is not a talent which you profess to have,” Gary A. Pulford, a member of the committee, wrote in a letter to Moorlach. “You appear to be doing a better job each day, but I really wish that you back off of this in-house money management issue until you get your operation in order.”

Moorlach reacted to the letter from Pulford, an appointee of Supervisor Roger R. Stanton, by calling him “a jerk” and questioning why he had agreed to serve on the oversight committee.

At Moorlach’s request, the Treasury Oversight Committee is scheduled today to consider whether the treasurer should resume managing the county’s investment pool. Since the county’s Dec. 6 bankruptcy, the Wall Street firm of Salomon Bros. has been managing the county’s funds.

Moorlach has said that he and his staff are qualified to bring the money back in-house and invest it. After the committee’s last meeting, he said he thought he should be allowed to take control of up to 25% of the pool to show that he can properly manage the funds.

He added that using Salomon Bros. to manage the pool costs the county about $140,000 a month. Moorlach also noted that he is the only treasurer in the state who does not handle his or her investment pool.

“I would hope that part of your desire to bring the money management back in-house would not be due to any peer pressure from your fellow treasurers,” Pulford stated in his letter.

Moorlach said Tuesday that he hadn’t had time to read the letter, but was upset that “we’ve got somebody on the oversight committee that operates this way.”

When asked if he wanted to respond to Pulford’s comments, Moorlach said that Pulford is “a jerk and doesn’t know anything and [I] wonder why he took the job in the first place.”

Several members of the five-member committee have expressed concern about letting Moorlach’s office resume control of investments. None, however, has been as vocal in their opposition as Pulford.

Pulford, a vice president of First American Trust Co., signaled his concern in another letter in April, when he questioned Moorlach’s qualifications for the job.

In his most recent letter, Pulford said he will not be able to attend the meeting today, but wanted to express his opposition to giving Moorlach’s office any more than 5% of the pool to manage for the next six to eight months.

“I believe in giving you and your team an opportunity to prove to the pool participants and the citizens of Orange County that managing money is in the repertoire of your department,” Pulford wrote.

He added: “Your department has a lot of credibility to rebuild and as I’m sure you know well, credibility and trust are two things that take a lot of time and effort to rebuild.”