ORANGE COUNTY IN BANKRUPTCY : CEO Says Time to Drop Wall Street Money Managers : Finance: Jan Mittermeier tells oversight committee that Salomon Bros. fees are too steep and that county treasurer should handle portfolio.

Interim County Chief Executive Officer Jan Mittermeier said on Wednesday that she wants to stop relying on an outside investment firm to manage the county’s funds and intends to give the responsibility to the treasurer.

“We need to get this done as quickly as possible,” Mittermeier told the county Treasury Oversight Committee.

She said weaning the county away from the costly services of the Wall Street firm of Salomon Bros. is a “top priority” of her fledgling administration.

Currently, Salomon charges the county about $140,000 a month for investing the entire $3.4-billion portfolio, which includes money from school districts and other governmental agencies. Mittermeier said the county should try to save money by eliminating those fees.

County officials, including some Treasury Oversight Committee members, have been reluctant to let Treasurer-Tax Collector John M.W. Moorlach manage the county’s portfolio largely because of the crisis created by his predecessor, Robert L. Citron.

Citron’s investment practices, which resulted in the county and others who invested with him losing $1.7 billion, are blamed for causing the worst municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.

Before giving Moorlach the county’s money, committee members have taken steps to limit the treasurer’s investment options so such a disaster could never happen again.

Although Mittermeier is adamant that Moorlach manage the county’s funds, she also said she doesn’t want to move too hastily. She said she plans to audit the treasurer’s office and make sure there are plenty of safeguards.

Blake Christian, one member of the group, said the committee is moving in that direction. He said he wants to bring the investment portfolio back slowly so Moorlach is not overwhelmed with the all responsibilities of the managing it at one time as the office under goes change.

The committee Wednesday also discussed two legal opinions sent to them from county counsel regarding several investment issues that have been troubling the panel.

One opinion suggested that the treasurer may be prohibited from using outside investment managers to handle the portfolio. The other involved legal issues pertaining to investing school funds.

In other action Wednesday, the Board of Supervisors met in closed session to narrow down the possible candidates for the county permanent CEO position. Supervisors declined to say how many candidates they are considering or who they are.