BOND TICKER : ORANGE COUNTY IN BANKRUPTCY : Water Board Says Supervisors Should Resign to ‘Make Way’

In a letter sent this week to its 20,000 customers, the Yorba Linda Water District blasted the county’s bankruptcy recovery efforts and called on the Board of Supervisors to “make way for true leadership” by resigning from office.

The four-page letter criticized the job performance of county officials in dealing with the financial crisis and labeled the settlement plan for agencies that invested in the county’s collapsed pool as unfair.

The letter denounced supervisors for demonstrating “a lack of accountability, vision, business savvy and direction.” It urged the entire five-member board to step aside, saying that “to do less would encourage the perpetuation of a failed financial policy.”

The water district, which serves Yorba Linda and parts of Placentia, Brea and Anaheim, is one of the smallest pool investors. It had $2.6 million deposited when the county filed for bankruptcy Dec. 6. Still, the agency has emerged as one of the most vocal critics of how the county has handled the bankruptcy.

The letter, which was signed by the agency’s board of directors, stated that the district was misled by county officials about the riskiness of the investment pool and that it was “as much of a surprise to us as it was to many others” when the fund lost nearly $1.7 billion of its value last year.

Water district spokesman Mike Robinson said Monday that the wording of the letter was approved by the Board of Directors at a meeting last week.

Robinson and board member Mike Beverage said the purpose of the letter was to make customers aware of the district’s role in the bankruptcy and to offer them its perspective on what went wrong.

“We wanted to explain to our customers what is going on and what our concerns are,” Robinson said.

Beverage added that the water district board is frustrated that supervisors “still refuse to be held accountable.”

Silva Sees Alternatives to Measure R

Orange County Supervisor Jim Silva says the county turned to Measure R, a proposed half-cent sales tax increase, before exhausting all other efforts to help bankruptcy recovery.

“I believe that taxes are an easy solution and that Orange County residents already pay far too much in taxes,” Silva says in a letter sent to constituents and Orange County residents who contact his staff or office. “The reality is that there are other alternatives.”

Silva is the only supervisor to publicly state his opposition to the tax. In his letter, Silva says the county must pursue selling assets, privatizing county services, eliminating the duplication of programs and redirecting sales tax revenue set aside for transportation services.

Compiled by Shelby Grad, with Rene Lynch