OC District Attorney and Treasurer Question Supervisors Takeover of $17 Billion Investments

County supervisors got called retired successful nationalist by their apical authoritative and treasurer for not explaining wherefore they’re taking implicit nonstop power of a $17 cardinal concern money aft softly moving for months to instrumentality power of the money. 

“Quite frankly, there’s been not a batch of information,” said District Attorney Todd Spitzer astatine the board’s Tuesday meeting. “I’m profoundly concerned.” 

The propulsion to instrumentality implicit the funds started past December, erstwhile the yearly recertification for the county’s concern argumentation was softly pulled disconnected the supervisor’s agenda, letting power of the funds revert from the treasurer to them. 

[Read: Santana: Mystery Crisis Brewing astatine the OC Treasurer Tax Collector]

The supervisors taking power of the money comes aft erstwhile County Supervisor Andrew Do pleaded blameworthy to bribery, admitting helium helped redirect implicit $10 cardinal successful region contracts to a nonprofit his girl worked astatine that took region unit years to find. 

“The CEO’s bureau couldn’t support way of $10 cardinal that Andrew Do squandered,” Spitzer said. “If they couldn’t negociate and oversee the going retired of $10 million, however tin they oversee billions of dollars?” 

County Treasurer Shari Freidenrich besides came retired to support her ain oversight of the funds, which she’s held since 2014, highlighting however determination hadn’t been immoderate complaints oregon concerns astir her handling of the money, saying she shared a “common goal,” to support the funds. 

“I’m asking the committee to reconsider this decision,” Freidenrich said. “I’ve received important feedback from the public, excavation participants…they’ve expressed their satisfaction.” 

None of the supervisors commented connected Freidenrich’s enactment erstwhile they unanimously voted to instrumentality the wealth distant from her and determination it nether the power of their CFO’s office, saying alternatively they were trying to workout amended oversight of their money. 

“This is simply to negociate our concern and marque definite it’s safe,” said Supervisor Doug Chaffee. 

The propulsion to propulsion retired came astatine the extremity of past year. 

While supervisors person yet to publically sermon Freidenrich’s absorption of her office, a 2021 show audit showed her unit had 1 of the highest turnover rates successful the county and ran the smallest unit successful the region. 

Supervisors and region unit besides repeatedly emphasized that it was their ineligible close to person nonstop oversight of the funds, and that their recently approved concern argumentation offered strict controls connected wherever the wealth could go. 

“A region concern argumentation would really enforce much requirements much restrictive than authorities instrumentality arsenic to however region monies should beryllium invested,” said Leon Page, the county’s apical lawyer. “It’s the safe, cautious, prudent happening to do.” 

But the argumentation is astir identical to the 1 Freidenrich’s bureau has utilized for years, which besides was approved by the committee connected an yearly ground for implicit a decade. 

The lone large displacement is Freidenrich’s removal, and she noted the argumentation was “very similar,” to the 1 she already follows. 

Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento said they were taking implicit the funds to warrant they’re decently invested and not manus disconnected that work to idiosyncratic else.  

“It’s not an casual determination to make, but I besides deliberation it’s a prudent one,” said Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento. “We’re good wrong our rights.” 

Supervisor Katrina Foley besides defended CEO Michelle Aguirre, highlighting however she didn’t clasp the presumption erstwhile Do misspent the funds. 

“While I besides consciousness vexation astir the information that $10 cardinal oregon much was mislaid owed to deficiency of accountability, that was not this CEO,” Foley said. 

But Aguirre was the main fiscal serviceman portion Do sat connected the committee and erstwhile the $10 cardinal called retired by national prosecutors was lost. 

Aguirre didn’t talk astatine the meeting, declining to remark connected the treasurer contented aft she told members of the Treasury Oversight Committee they were “nitpicking,” past period by bringing up concerns implicit however the funds were being moved around. 

[Read: OC CEO Defends Stripping Elected Treasurer of $17 Billion Investment Pool]

Sarmiento pitched removing the Treasury Oversight Committee from overseeing the funds and having the Audit Oversight Committee alternatively prime it up, which is chiefly made up of the supervisors themselves. 

There’s besides a question connected if Freidenrich volition proceed to oversee the voluntary concern pool, which is abstracted from the county’s and holds implicit $44 cardinal from a premix of section agencies and cities specified arsenic Villa Park, Tustin, Huntington Beach, Laguna Niguel and Lake Forest. 

Leaders of the county’s toll roads bureau conscionable pulled their wealth retired of that excavation past period according to a region spokesperson, taking implicit $240,000 without publically saying why. 

“I privation to spot wherefore this voluntary subordinate programme is allowed,” Sarmiento said, “and whether oregon not we should simply terminate it.”

Noah Biesiada is simply a Voice of OC newsman and corps subordinate with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him astatine nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org.