BOND TICKER : ORANGE COUNTY IN BANKRUPTCY : Brown Act Dance Isn’t ‘Deliberate’

All five members of the Board of Supervisors appeared before the Orange County Chamber of Commerce & Industry in Irvine on Wednesday and because of the Brown Act--which prohibits a majority of the group from meeting together without advance public notice--the board took some unusual steps.

Prohibited from “deliberating,” board members addressed the audience and then, one by one, left the room after they spoke. Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez, who spoke first, returned later to answer questions with Supervisor William G. Steiner.

Vasquez said that complying with the public meetings law, enacted so that elected officials conduct the public’s business in the open, has at times hampered the county in dealing with the bankruptcy.

“It underscores and illustrates some of the difficulties we have in our ability to convene under certain circumstances and that has, in some instances, slowed the process of our ability to make decisions, although we’ve tried to be responsive . . , “ Vasquez said.

Supervisor Roger R. Stanton wondered if the board would be criticized for its unusual maneuvers.

“I’m waiting to read tomorrow whether it’s going to say the board shows up to be responsive to the business community and answers questions or if it’s going to say the board dances around the Brown Act again,” he said.

District Wants State to Buy IOUs

The Capistrano Unified School District is turning to state officials in efforts to get back 100% of the money it invested in the county pool.

The county has proposed returning 90 cents on the dollar, with the rest in IOUs.

Supt. James A. Fleming said his district will ask the state to allow school systems to swap the county IOUs for their full cash value.

“We are asking the state to assume responsibility for the IOUs,” Fleming said.

Time to Collect Insurance Claim

In the billion-dollar scheme of the Orange County bankruptcy, it doesn’t amount to much. Nonetheless, state Sen. Quentin Kopp (I-San Francisco) has urged county officials to hurry up and collect on a $1-million insurance policy the county held to guard against “unfaithful performance of duty” by county officials.

Kopp wrote county Chief Executive Officer William J. Popejoy and Auditor-Controller Steve E. Lewis, suggesting that in light of the county’s investment losses and the subsequent dismissal or resignation of myriad officials, it would be appropriate to collect the insurance bond, which is required of all local governments in California.

“It’s a drop in the bucket, but they better collect,” Kopp said. “They certainly qualify.”

Compiled by Shelby Grad, with Jeff Bean, Eric Bailey, Martin Miller and Mark Platte