Street certain about future

When Orange County Treasurer-Tax Collector Chriss Street meets with county supervisors this week, he’ll have to make a case for why they shouldn’t strip him of control over the county’s $7 billion investment pool.

He’ll probably talk about the county’s high ratings from Moody’s and Fitch, two widely-recognized credit rating services. He may point out that the county in 2006 had the third-highest rate of return on investments of any government agency in California. And he’ll probably have to discuss some less pleasant subjects, but Street thinks results speak for themselves.

Since even before his election in 2006, Street has come under fire for his involvement in lawsuits connected to his management of the Fruehauf Trailer Corp.’s bankruptcy trust, and more recently for an office remodel some think was too costly. He’s also been under investigation by U.S attorneys and the Orange County District Attorney, the latter looking into an architectural contract that may have been improperly granted.

Although no charges have been filed against Street, unanswered questions led Orange County Supervisor John Moorlach — who appointed Street assistant treasurer and supported his election — to call last week for Street to resign or face a board vote to take county investments out of his hands. That vote is set for Sept. 11.

In the meantime, he has some convincing to do, but he doesn’t sound worried.

“I’m confident that the performance and the safeguards that we’ve brought to the department will be very compelling as we move forward to even do a better job in the future,” he said in an interview Friday.

He attributes at least part of the department’s success to the changes he made to create a more open, collaborative environment in the office.

Before the remodel, several financial analysts worked in an area referred to as “the gulag” and other employees were in private offices, Street said, adding, “You didn’t work together as a team.”

Earlier news reports pegged the cost of the office remodel at more than $950,000, but according to information from Street he has spent $758,441, and he denied Friday that he has canceled any contracts or orders because of recent public scrutiny.

While Moorlach has distanced himself politically from Street, asking him to resign and suggesting he be stripped of his power over the county’s investments, the supervisor said this week he still thinks of Street as a friend. The feeling seems to be mutual, regardless of the impeding vote that could determine the treasurer’s political future.

“I will always see John as a friend,” Street said. “We had a hard time in 1994 when we came to the media and the public with facts, and they crushed us.”

People said their alarmist warnings would create a run on the bank, Street said. Of course, they were right to be worried, and the result was the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. It cast a long shadow, and one Street may in some ways still be working under.

When Street became treasurer, he said, “I was stunned how many people came in and told me that the county never had to file bankruptcy. These people did not understand that Wall Street had sold out their securities and had already taken their money.”

Street has recently taken pains to show himself as a businessman, not a politician, and he thinks politics may explain some of his recent troubles.

“I had a pristine business history with tremendous accomplishments, and two days after I filed to run for the treasurer-tax collector’s office, all of a sudden there’s a barrage in the media, and Nick Berardino calls to have me thrown out,” he said, referring to news of allegations in Delaware bankruptcy court that he mismanaged a corporate bankruptcy trust and squandered its money.

Then came the news of a lawsuit by Daniel Harrow, the trustee who succeeded him at Fruehauf, and the investigations.

Since Monday, Street has opted to meet the allegations head-on. He called a news conference early in the week, and on “Inside OC,” which will air on KOCE Sunday, he’ll debate Berardino.

It’s all part of what he says is a new openness — something his current troubles have taught him he needs to show.

He’s moving ahead with revisions to make county tax bills easier to understand, and he’ll tout his other accomplishments when he goes before the board Sept. 11.

But Street clearly doesn’t see himself leaving.

“I’m going to have a positive approach to this because I’m going to have to work with these people for years,” he said.