Supervisors strip treasurer’s powers

The Orange County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday temporarily stripped embattled County Treasurer Chriss Street of his investment powers.

“It’s a sad day,” Supervisor Bill Campbell said before the board passed an emergency ordinance to turn Street’s investment authority over to the county’s chief financial officer.

A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge last week handed down a $7-million judgment against Street, a Newport Beach resident, for breaching his fiduciary duties while he was a trustee for a bankrupt trust from 1998 to 2005, before his election as county treasurer-tax collector.

The court ruled that Street breached his fiduciary duties to the End of the Road Trust and violated certain terms of the trust agreement. Judge Richard Neiter ordered Street to pay more than $7 million in damages.

“I certainly feel like I was not informed properly — like I was used perhaps,” Supervisor John Moorlach said.

In a letter to supervisors Friday, Street recommended that the board temporarily delegate his investment powers to Auditor-Controller David Sunderstrom while he weighed his legal options.

Street was one of Moorlach’s allies. The supervisor served as treasurer before Street, and both were critics of former Treasurer Bob Citron, who served prior to the county bankruptcy of the 1990s.

— Brianna Bailey