Mediation Urged to Solve County Crisis

The city’s Chamber of Commerce, in a letter to Orange County Treasurer-Tax Collector John M.W. Moorlach, proposes mediation as a way to resolve the county’s financial woes.

“Obviously, solutions from the top down have not been acceptable,” said Ed Fawcett, executive director of the chamber. “Everyone--the special districts, county agencies and cities--are all just trying to protect their little fiefdoms. It has been too political and too provincial.”

If all government entities would work together, Fawcett said, a solution could be found that would not pass on to taxpayers the financial burden of the county’s December bankruptcy filing and the collapse of its investment pool.

“In fact, the state treasurer said that if a trustee is appointed to oversee the county, one of the first things they would look at would be the reserve funds of the cities and special districts,” Fawcett said.

Fawcett said that he and the entire business community of Costa Mesa have been bitterly disappointed with the handling of the bankruptcy, which they feel has spent too much taxpayer money without accomplishing a workable solution.

Moorlach said he received the letter, which was also sent to the county Board of Supervisors. “It is clearly time to get all the players together and make something work,” Moorlach said. “We have to hammer out some solutions.”