“I was used,” he said

Supervisors strip Street’s investment authority

OC Reg “Watchdog” reporter Jennifer Muir reports that

County supervisors [today] unanimously voted to revoke Orange Countys Treasurer-Tax Collector Chriss Street’s authority to invest county funds.
. . .
Supervisors said … that while Street has done a good job as treasurer, the move was needed to prevent the public and investors from losing confidence in the county’s investment pool….

“It’s a sad day,” Supervisor Bill Campbell said.

Street recommended last week that the board temporarily remove his ability to invest county funds, but he suggested handing over that authority to the county’s elected Auditor-Controller David Sundstrom. The board rejected Street’s plan and instead gave investing authority to the county’s Chief Financial Officer Robert Franz. Street was not at the supervisor’s meeting.

Street was the court-appointed trustee for the End of the Road Trust, successor to the bankrupt Fruehauf Trailer Corp., from 1998 until creditors forced him out in July 2005. Supervisor John Moorlach hired him as the county’s assistant treasurer in January 2006, in effect making Street his designated heir in the June 2006 election.
. . .
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Richard M. Neiter ruled that Street wasted millions of dollars trying to create a truck-trailer manufacturing business that he could run, rather than liquidating assets as he was hired to do. And he found that Street used trust money to pay for everything from fancy dinners to parking tickets.
. . .

And the judge dismissed Street’s sworn explanations for his conduct as “absurd”, “inconceivable” and “incredulous.” He wrote that Street’s conduct as trustee “amounts to gross negligence and willful misconduct.”

Moorlach said he’s known Street since 1994, when he ran against Robert Citron for the treasurer. Citron’s risky investments later drove the county into bankruptcy, and Street, Moorlach said, was one of the few people who knew what Citron was doing.

But Moorlach says that when Street expressed interest in running for treasurer, he never told Moorlach about his issues with Fruehauf.

“I was not informed properly. I was used.” Moorlach reiterated Tuesday. “Fruehafuf [sic] was not a fly on the wall in a room. It was a Doberman Pinscher.”
. . .
Supervisors Bill Campbell and Moorlach called for Street’s resignation after the ruling. Street declined, and he’ll remain in office until the beginning of 2011. He has decided not to run for reelection, and the filing deadline to fill his open seat closes Wednesday.