The dam apparently broke late yesterday for Orange County Treasurer Chriss Street. O.C. Supervisor John Moorlach, who was once Street’s greatest champion, has now called on Street to resign. And Moorlach is seeking to immediately “revoke Street’s authority to invest the county’s $7 billion portfolio,” according to the O.C. Register.
Apparently the last straw for Moorlach was that “Street may have used a falsified document to cover up an improper award process on a contract to a private company.”
“Moorlach said he met with Street on Wednesday, asking him as a friend to step down but that Street refused.”
The brouhaha stems from “a proposed contract with an architectural company.” “Street proposed an $18,000 deal with Ware Malcomb, based in Irvine, for a design study of the outside of the Hall of Finance and Records, where Street’s office is.” But he rigged the process by backdating a memo so that his pick for the contract would win.
“Moorlach and Street have shared a professional friendship since the county’s bankruptcy in 1994. Moorlach hired Street as his second in command in 2006. Street was elected in June and took office in January 2007.
The board can strip Street of his powers because of a state law enacted after the county’s bankruptcy. If Street refuses to resign, Moorlach and Supervisor Chris Norby will make a motion at the Sept. 11 meeting to revoke his authority to invest, Moorlach said. Street would keep some banking privileges, tax-collecting services and his salary.”
You can read more about this at the Liberal OC and at Red County/OC Blog. As one would expect, the Red County/OC Blog editor, Matt Cunningham, has been busy deleting comments. Many commenters at his blog have been ripping Moorlach, and Cunningham can’t stand it.
Personally I am pleased that Moorlach has done the right thing and tossed Street to the street, as Liberal OC put it. That took guts. But Moorlach stuck by this guy way too long and if people want to line up and take their licks now, he just needs to take them and move on.
It takes class for any man to place the interests of the community above long lasting friendships. As reported by Supervisor Moorlach, he has known Treasurer/Tax Collector Chris Street for over a dozen years.
None of us have a crystal ball to see the future. That includes John Moorlach. If the allegations of Chris Street doctoring documentation are found to be valid than Chris must resign or be removed. We should not blame John for any inappropriate conduct by his replacement at the office of County Treasurer.
And for the record, John and I have been friends for nearly 14 years. While we may not agree on all Policy decisions, I will stand alongside him through this Treasurer’s office black cloud.
Under a cloud of suspicious
conduct! When in doubt….
When your Mentor turns on you..
it’s time to say good-by!
The good news is that Chriss
wasn’t found in charge of any
dogfighting group!
It is in Moorlach’s best interest to disown Street. What would have been really gutsy, and in the public’s interest, would have been for Moorlach to rescind his endorsement before Street was ever elected. Serious allegations about financial wrongdoings were leveled at Street prior to the election : http://blogs.ocregister.com/buzz/archives/2006/03/the_street_affair_a_rundown.html
Though innocent until proven guilty, I would never hire someone to oversee my tiny investment portfolio if they were under investigation for breach of fiduciary responsibility, much less endorse them to oversee OC’s billions!
No, none of us has a crystal ball, but Moorlach has been milking his prediction of the bankruptcy ad nauseam for years. I am tired of hearing about his past brilliance. When I look at Moorlach’s current record I see that he personally anointed Street as OC Treasurer and now has us involved in a questionable legal battle with the unions that will cost the OC taxpayer millions in attorney’s fees:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-pension24aug24,1,1568324.story?coll=la-headlines-california
As one would expect, the Red County/OC Blog editor, Matt Cunningham, has been busy deleting comments. Many commenters at his blog have been ripping Moorlach, and Cunningham can’t stand it.
Art, I know it would be out of character for you, but you might try fact-checking once in a while.
For the benefit of your readers:
I deleted three comments from the same person making unsubstantiated accusations of payola against two public officials. We don’t allow that kind of thing at Red County. Art allows anyone to make any accusation about anyone else. Not at Red County. We have this thing Art is unacquainted with called “standards.”
I also edited personal insults from a pro-Moorlach commenter’s comments and warned him/her to knock it off.
Again, it’s this quaint notion of standards Art is unfamiliar with.
Art, you might want to take a moment to check and you’ll see plenty of anti-Moorlach comments. The again, why confuse you with the facts?
You should have stayed on vacation, Art. This blog was more interesting, enjoyable and informative in your absence.
No Larry it doesn’t take class to save your own skin when the FBI is sniffing around. Now if Moorlock were to say, I brought this guy in and I’m responsible for this mess and therefore resign, that would be a classy move. I still remember Moorlock and Barbre pimping for Street at all the GOP events!!
Anonymous 11:32 a.m.
Do you truly expect me take you seriously? Faulting John for possible Contract rigging by the new Treasurer after John left the Treasurer’s office simply because of his prior support for Chris.
Hey, I can name many Republicans who supported Arnold before he became a Democrat in action. Using your logic I guess we are all responsible for Arnold’s decisions after he was re-elected with support from Orange County Republicans.
Jubal dude,
If you got off your high horse
long enough to stop flicking our
BIC (Blogger In Charge) Art….
you would see that by arbitrarily
“ediitng comments to articles”…
you follow the standard Communist
Manifesto (Only listen to your
own choir and you won’t be disappointed!) Brutal….hey,
haven’t you ever made a mistake
about which Cleaners to take your
shirts too? Oh, you are perfect
we guess! Well, asking Dr. Street
to step down is pretty gutsy…
whenever Papa John did it! Aren’t
you still supporting Jim Ferryman
after his DUI? Come on dude…..
leave those nasty comments on your
bloggisphere! So entertaining!
Art,
How can Cunningham accuse you of not checking facts when he rarely does? As any blog surfer knows, Jubal spends most of his time monitoring comments made about him, and then embarking on fruitless efforts at damage control. I’ve had lots of fun testing him with different ip addresses and he never lets me down with his deletions. His holier than thou gibberish is all about “Jubal’s way or the highway”. His blog rules are nothing more than a front for his total control of opinion.
Everyone else praised you for taking a well deserved vacation. Cunningham’s comments were uncalled for, while his own absence at OCblog is usually overcome with unedited, undeleted rare open minded commentary, and without any violations of Jubal’s rules. Go figure.
Larry,
“None of us have a crytal ball…..”
You are correct but we all have a rearview mirror. It’s called history or the past.
John Moorlach was well aware of Streets legal problems YEARS ago. For people to pretend that this has recently come to light is disingenuous at best.
It’s only as the train got closer and the noise got lounder did people start to take notice. that along with some tenacious reporting at the OC Register has AGAIN exposed what some of us knew all along: CHRISS Steet is unfit for office.
Duplojohn.
“John Moorlach was well aware of Streets legal problems YEARS ago. For people to pretend that this has recently come to light is disingenuous at best.” Your words!
Help me out here. When did Chris Street get elected as Treasurer?
When was the questionable Contract issued?
I think your YEARS ago comment speaks only for the rear view mirror which preceeds his being elected as our Treasurer/Tax Collector. It is an allegation while wearing the Treasurer’s hat that triggered John’s request for Chris to step down.
It’s unfortunate that Chris’s prior activity as a private citizen should have been resolved before the election if in fact he was found guilty of any criminal activity. I do recall DA Rackauckas pulling his endorsement way back in May of last year.
Neither you nor I know all of the facts related to Mr. Street’s dealings with Fruehauf Trailer Corp.
As such anything you or I post on the rear view mirror through 2005 is strictly hearsay and speculation.
If you got off your high horse
long enough to stop flicking our
BIC (Blogger In Charge) Art….
you would see that by arbitrarily
“ediitng comments to articles”…
you follow the standard Communist
Manifesto (Only listen to your
own choir and you won’t be disappointed!) Brutal….
Ron and Anna: if you could quit your near-incomprehensible writing style long enough to actually know what you are talking about…then you would actually know what you are talking about. Which in this case, you do not.
You might start by re-acquainting yourselves with the meaning of the word “arbitrary.” If someone uses a word or phrase violates the rules of the comments section — so simple even you guys and Art can understand them — then I edit them out. That is the opposite of arbitrary.
You will find as much if not more diversity of opinion in the comments on Red County than you will here.
Aren’t
you still supporting Jim Ferryman
after his DUI?
Who is Jim Ferryman?
Come on dude…..
leave those nasty comments on your
bloggisphere! So entertaining!
That’s what Orange Juice is for. Over at Red County, we have something called standards. You might look into it.