O.C. AFTER THE BANKRUPTCY : Voices:

“In the end, this bankruptcy was a long, arduous task, but they paid off noteholders in full. So you had a true municipal bankruptcy and not one based on the corporate model, where creditors get stiffed.”

--Stephen Ward, chief investment officer with Charles Schwab & Co., the San Francisco brokerage firm that agreed to wait a year for repayment of the $41.5 million worth of Orange County bonds it owned.

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“I am certainly happy to have this behind us. I’m looking forward to the next 18 months as being a better environment for us to work in.”

--Robert A. Griffith, the county’s General Services Agency director.

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“This is quite a different environment from the bank of television cameras and media that came to our first board meeting when we [declared] bankruptcy. . . . This is a time for reflection on what lessons we’ve learned. There’s still a lot to do.”

--Supervisor William G. Steiner

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“I heard it on the radio, and it sent chills up my body. I thought: How appropriate to have that cut playing when we emerged from bankruptcy.”

--County spokeswoman Pat Ware, who purchased the soundtrack from the film “Mission: Impossible” to play at Wednesday’s reception.

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“It’s one thing to say we are out of bankruptcy. But it’s another to feel the impact of the cuts at the district and school sites. I don’t think we will see a lot of the impacts for another three to five years.”

--Jacquie Boslet, former president, Irvine PTA Council

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“The bankruptcy itself obviously shook the confidence of the citizens of Orange County. I think it was a wake-up call for all of us.”

--County Chief Executive Officer Jan Mittermeier.

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“The time to close the casino had come. That was the appropriate thing to do at that time.”

--Thomas W. Hayes, a county financial advisor, defending the December 1994 decision to file for bankruptcy.

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“It took 454 days. We are happy to be here.”

--Laurann Cook, a Fountain Valley City Council member and president of the Orange County chapter of the League of California Cities.