John Moorlach Asks County Treasurer Chriss Street To Resign

Wow. Apparently it's not a very dull day up in Santa Ana. Matt Cunningham/Jubal at OC Blog has reported that John Moorlach has indeed asked for OC Treasurer Chriss Street to resign because of some very troubling legal problems Mr. Street has. Mr. Street has refused to do so. This is stunning news. This comes on top of the revelations that Mr. Street spent lavishly re-appointing his county office. In fact at Central Committee this past Monday, Mr Street joked about himself during introductions of elected officials and people running for office that he was "Chriss Street, chief interior decorator of the Couty of Orange". It got a hearty laugh from most there, but I don't think he's laughing today. I think Supervisor Moorlach also has to accept some responsibility here. He's the one who vouched for Mr. Street and practically transferred power to him by virtue of him hiring Mr. Street as his assistant a few months before the election so Mr. Street could have as his ballot title..."Assistant Treasurer of the County of Orange". It sounds like background checks on Mr. Street were not done or there wasn't much digging done. This is shades of the issues the CRP had recently with their foreign worker hiring scandal. It's all pretty embarrassing for the party as well because they stuck their neck out to for Mr. Street.

This all comes at a time when leadership is desperately needed to navigate some rough economic times ahead. There needs to be a captain of the investment ship that's overseeing the $7 billion dollar county investment portfolio. I alluded to it the other day in my wrapup on the Central Committee meeting. I spoke with Supervisor Moorlach and asked him if the county has investments in these shaky mortgage debt bonds. There's a chance the county could get hosed if it has any investments in this stuff right now. We don't need this distraction, but it is here now and I'm afraid a huge battle royale for power at the Treasurer's office has begun.

Janet Nguyen has taken a wait and see attitude towards Mr. Street according to Total Buzz.