O.C. Supervisor John Moorlach gave us O.C. Treasurer-Tax Collector Chriss Street and appointed Sheriff Sandra Hutchens
I thought it was a bit odd when I got a message yesterday that Chriss Street wanted to talk to me. So I called him and we had a nice chat about the scumbag that is Brett Barbre.
Today Street’s world came crumbling down as a judge ruled that “Orange County Treasurer- Tax Collector Chriss Street breached his fiduciary duty five years ago when he served as a trustee for a bankrupt truck-trailer company,” according to the O.C. Register.
And the news gets worse for Street. “U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Richard M. Neiter ordered Street to pay more than $7 million in damages in the case. Attorneys for Fruehauf’s End of the Road Trust had asked for Street to pay $11.9 million in damages. “
Street’s reelection campaign website asks voters to “”Re-elect the name you can trust.” I am not sure, today, that many folks trust Street anymore.
Even former O.C. Treasurer John Moorlach is calling on Street to resign. Moorlach is also asking his supporters to vote for Shari Freidenrich to replace Street. She is the elected Treasurer in the City of Huntington Beach.
Street says he gave a lot of value to the bankrupt truck-trailer company that he serves as a trustee. That is debatable, and the federal judge in question certainly disagreed with the notion.
Street also cost the County of Orange about eight million dollars, after losing a bet on a risky security, according to the O.C. Register.
Street told me the other night that he was the one who first predicted the trouble that Bob Citron got into when he bankrupted the County of Orange. That may be the case, but Moorlach got the credit – and today, Moorlach has a lot of influence. That Moorlach is calling on Street to resign is a very big deal, considering that Moorlach picked Street to succed him as O.C. Treasurer-Tax Collector.
I have a feeling that Moorlach is going to get burned for supporting appointed Sheriff Sandra Hutchens too…
Isn’t this another elected official brought to you by Bret Barbre?
*Not particularly a great time for anyone to have the OC Treasurer job….with the current state of Commercial Property and the resets that are coming in the next two years! The banks have bought plenty of Credit Default Swaps…so,
they will be fine….just the County that will be twisting in the wind.
Moorlach knew about his buddy Street getting booted from the trust before he hired him. Now he’s grandstanding by calling for Streets resignation. This time the sky is really falling this time…on Moorlach. Now if he could just get his other buddy Hutchens to resign.
Moorlach should be twisting in the wind with his protege Street. He (Moorlach) is only rushing for the rope to avoid ending up in the noose. And Freidenrich should be closely scrutinized if she’s endorsed by Moorlach.
This seems to be strike two for Moorlach the Pious. You are who your friends are, and this needs to be remembered when he runs again in ’12. It’s time for Moorlach to rein himself in and ask himself “what has he done for us lately?” Street and aren’t impressive recommendations.
Back in December I posted my predictions for 2010. Two in that list were Street will be found liable, and Tom Daly will be out of political office by the end of the year. Looks like I am doing pretty good so far. Street’s biggest problem – besides this court ruling that is – is apparently his big ego – that he is an expert and if you don’t believe it just ask him. It gets tiresome and leads to few friends. Back in the mid 90’s when the county went bankrupt it was pretty well known within county government that Street was the brains behind identifying the likely collapse of the county investment pool due to Citron’s investment approach, but that Moorlach was taking the credit. Good to see Street apparently saying as much 15 years later.
It is hard to find a politician without a huge ego, but the bigger the ego the more likely they are to shoot themselves in the foot (or worse) eventually.
I wonder if Street is covered by insurance or a bond for his work as a bankruptcy trustee? If so, then it would seem that his insurer(s) are stuck with some or all of this bill?
I agree with comments above — Moorlach knew before he endorsed Street. Now both Street and Hutchens can be removed by voters, and they should never have been elected / appointed. Moorlach should apologize after years of covering for his political friends — just come clean about it instead of trying to switch sides to make political points.
*A word of caution great people: When it comes to “The Law”…the wrong judge “hangs you” the right judge “sets you free”. After the two Henry S & Henry N cases…who in the world would rightly know “when” this case will be over.. “finally!”
Let’s get this right: “You have to have some serious dirt on you to get elected.
Then “they” can pull your chain anytime “they” want….if you fail to do their bidding!” Tough world out there!
Time to call a “Plumber”…..
ooops..they are all in jail or doing talk shows on right wing radio. Draining the Swamp probably takes a village, a county, a state or a hemisphere!
There is a whole human side to Streets scandal that often is overlooked or flat out ignored.
This guy was well known in the towns that made these trailers as a the guy who burned them. The story is compelling.
This guy is a bigger scumbag than most of the regular politicos we rail on. He robbed people and then used these riches to come home and steal an office based in trust.