Villains Need to Quit Playing Victims

[Former Orange County Treasurer-Tax Collector Robert L.] Citron has a lot of nerve asking the taxpayers of Orange County to give him sick pay! Maybe he learned this trick from [former Assistant Treasurer] Matthew R. Raabe, who sees nothing wrong with saying he’s “disabled” because of the stress of his job, yet on the other hand is filing suit to be reinstated. Only in public service can two such self-serving idiots be taken seriously. Get a clue, guys: You’ve been fired, and the people of Orange County wish you would accept responsibility for your wrongs and pay your penance.

LISA FOLEY

Irvine

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We have a grand jury and a handful of angry citizens who can’t seem to look at what is happening in our streets [that] threatens our quality of life. [They seem] hungry to hang as many [people] as possible.

Elected officials waste valuable time preoccupied with the energy-draining fight to prove their innocence, trying to convince their persecutors that they knew no more than what the financial experts closely monitoring the treasurer knew.

They could and should be using their every bit of energy fighting at every level on our behalf to keep federal and state dollars due us here in our county to deal with the real issues of poverty and violence. [These], if not quickly addressed, will become plagues which will affect all of us much more personally than the loss of dollars in the bankruptcy. They could and should be working with business and industry so the climate locally is conducive for them to stay and grow, creating jobs, helping people be productive taxpayers and family providers, and not allowing businesses to collapse or move, adding more families to our welfare rolls.

Our elected officials need to sit still to think through what it will take to bring the good quality of life we grew complacent with back to a decent level for the benefit of us all.

Let’s stop looking at the past, only to find blame, and deal with the true headlines presently hurting our communities and possibly devastating our future.

MARISA POWELL

Santa Ana