For Many, Rage Turns to Pity for Shameful Figure

When Orange County went bankrupt two years ago, Hector Ortega hated Robert L. Citron.

“He seemed to be the cause for all the problems we had in the county . . . [and] at my daughter’s school,” Ortega said of the disgraced former county treasurer whose risky investments caused the financial crisis. “I thought he caused a lot of pain for a lot of people.”

Now, the 34-year-old Santa Ana electrician said his hatred has turned to pity, especially after he learned Tuesday that Citron, 71, had been sentenced to a year in jail and ordered to pay a $100,000 fine.

“That’s a lot of time for such an old man,” Ortega said. “I don’t see what that does for anyone. The money is gone. This isn’t going to bring it back.”

Ortega’s sentiments were echoed Tuesday by some government officials, activists, educators and others connected to the $1.64-billion bankruptcy.

The sentencing comes more than a year after Citron pleaded guilty to six felony counts of defrauding and misappropriating interest from the accounts of 200 agencies, school districts and cities that deposited their reserves in the county-run investment pool.

The agencies have received only 80% to 90% of their pool investments so far. Most school districts and cities have gotten by with only moderate cutbacks, but county government was forced to lay off 500 workers and slash a variety of health and social services programs.

Steve White, an anti-tax activist and member of the Committees of Correspondence watchdog group, said Citron shares blames for the bankruptcy with other county officials and should not be the only one facing stiff punishment.

“He really looks like the fall guy,” White said. “I might be able to support this if the supervisors and city managers were also being punished. But they still have their jobs. Why should he be the only one?”

Supervisor William G. Steiner expressed disappointment at the outcome. “His conduct didn’t involve personal gain or benefit,” Steiner said. “I don’t see how this kind of sentence benefits society.”

During a sentencing hearing Monday, Citron was described by psychologists as mentally impaired. Friends testified that the former treasurer has deteriorated rapidly since being forced from the office he held for more than two decades.

“If you had asked me a year and a half ago, I would have said to hang him from the highest rail,” said Seal Beach Councilman George Brown.

“But as time goes by, you tend to take a closer look at things and wonder how he has suffered through all this,” Brown added. “I feel now that he might not have been as sharp as people thought. He got caught up in his delusions of grandeur.”

Paul Harvey, an Irvine parent volunteer, said the public should focus on how to improve schools hit by the bankruptcy rather than on the severity of Citron’s punishment.

“It won’t help my school district if he gets 20 years,” he said. “This is a very sad testament to what can happen if you don’t watch your money. But it’s time to move on.”

Jeff Yaugher, a county communications worker who was laid off after the December 1994 bankruptcy but recently got his job back, took a similar view.

“At this point, I just want to pick up and move forward,” said Yaugher, 33 of Orange. “What’s done is done. I’m not holding any grudges.”

But others see merit in the sentence, despite their empathy for Citron’s situation.

“I don’t like to see anyone go to jail,” said Patrick Quaney, a member of the Concerned Citizens Committee of Orange County. “But I hope this sends a message.”

Some had no sympathy for Citron. Phylis Diaz, a 45-year-old Santa Ana clerk, said the sentence was too light given the far-reaching effects of the bankruptcy.

“You don’t gamble . . . [with] the people’s money,” Diaz said. “He should pay the price.”