O.C. district attorney investigating treasurer

Orange County Treasurer Chris Street, now the subject of investigations by the district attorney and federal officials, could be stripped of his control over the county’s investment portfolio.

County Supervisor John Moorlach, who preceded Street as treasurer and chose him as a successor, said Thursday he has asked Street to resign and will propose supervisors take the county investments away from Street’s supervision.

Street is a Newport Beach resident who was a bond trader and handled corporate restructuring before Moorlach named him assistant treasurer in early 2006.

When Moorlach ran for a county supervisor’s seat last year, Street sought and won the treasurer’s post. But he came under fire during his campaign for his handling of a bankruptcy over which he was a trustee.

Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas began investigating Street based on an outside complaint and recently turned that issue over to the U.S. Attorney’s office, Rackauckas spokeswoman Susan Schroeder said.

She confirmed Rackauckas’ office started a new investigation of Street a few weeks ago, after being alerted to a “situation” by the county’s legal counsel. No details are available, as the office does not discuss ongoing investigations.

In light of the investigations and still-pending bankruptcy case, Moorlach said, he told Street, “It would be a good idea for him to focus on dealing with those issues and it would distract him too much from his job as the county treasurer.”

Street did not return calls for comment Thursday.

Moorlach said he will recommend to supervisors Sept. 11 that Street’s investment powers be stripped, but not because he thinks the cities and other local agencies that invest in the county pool should panic about their money.

“I monitor that portfolio every day,” he said, adding it operates as a money market fund. “In relation to other investments it’s the most basic, plus I’m very confident in the staff at the treasurer’s office.”

The move to take back the portfolio should have support from Orange County Employees Assn. General Manager Nick Berardino, who called for exactly that in a Monday letter to Supervisor Chris Norby, who chairs the board.

“He absolutely should not be handling any county investments,” Berardino said Thursday. “He is under a cloud of suspicion. He has more investigations swirling around him than Dick Cheney. There is no way he should be in the position of managing the investment pool.”

Moorlach asked before supporting Street for election whether there were any blots on his record that could come up in a campaign, and Street said there weren’t, Moorlach said.

“Chris has also failed to make a good first impression and has made a lot of voters nervous,” Moorlach said, adding that’s not acceptable in a county that in 1994 experienced the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.