The California Republican Hack Du Jour is Orange County Treasurer Chriss Street.

Orange County Funds Hold SIV Debt on Moody's Review
by Michael B. Marois and William Selway
Bloombeb.com
December 5, 2007

Orange County, California, the wealthiest U.S. municipality ever to declare bankrupcty, bought structured investment vehicles similar to those that caused a run on funds invested by local governments in Florida.

Twenty percent, or $460 million, of the county's $2.3 billion Extended Fund is invested in so-called SIVs that may face credit-rating cuts, said Treasurer Chriss Street. In all of its funds, the county holds a total of $837 million of SIV debt, including $152 million in its $3.5 billion of money-market funds that isn't under ratings review, said his spokesman, Keith Rodenhuis.
. . .
''We'll find out real quick if we have a problem,'' said the county's former Treasurer John Moorlach, who is now a county supervisor. ''But for now I need to be patient and wait and see.''
. . .
Moorlach sought to have Street stripped of his authority to manage the county's $6 billion of investments in September amid federal and local corruption probes. He said Street was too distracted by the probes to manage the county's money.
The U.S. Justice Department is investigating Street's spending from a bankrupt trucking company, allegedly for his personal use. . .

Let the whole church say "Amen" to those good old-fashioned Republican conservative "values."

According to Bloomberg News:

Orange County joins a growing list of state and local governments at risk of losing money from investments sold as high-yielding havens that have been contaminated by the collapse of the subprime mortgage market. Florida, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Montana, Maine and King County, Washington also have disclosed investments in SIVs.

The Orange County Register reported last week that O.C. is the only major California government entity invested in SIVs.

O.C. Investments Shunned by Others
Orange County Register, December 7, 2007
by Ronald Campbell

Orange County is the only major government agency in California with public money invested in controversial securities known as structured investment vehicles, or SIVs.

The state has stayed away from the securities. So have the treasurers of the six largest counties other than Orange. The only major county to invest in SIVs is San Diego, which never bought as much as Orange County and cleared out its last one in November.

"We did not want to risk any of our assets," San Diego Treasurer Dan McAllister said.
. . .
Treasurer-Tax Collector Chriss Street defended Orange County's investment in this type of security, which increased during his year on the job. The investments are suffering from "guilt by association" with subprime mortgages - although none of the county's investments contain subprime mortgages, he said, adding that he's not buying more.

The Republican treasurer's ethical problems relate to allegations that Street spent money from a bankrupt trucking company for his personal use. He was its court-appointed trustee before taking office. The name of the trust (you can't make this stuff up)is "The End of the Road Trust." He also faces civil lawsuits associated with his management of the operation. The county district attorney also is looking into whether Street improperly awarded a government contract while treasurer.

OC Treasurer Street: No 'Nefarious Scheme to Defraud'
Orange County Register, November 12, 2007
by Ronald Campbell

Chriss Street double-billed a bankrupt trust for thousands of dollars in expenses, including a $3,584 laptop computer and $1,200 in office supplies, according to newly released court records.

The records show that he charged the trust tens of thousands more for luxury hotels in Hawaii, New York City and St. Petersburg, Fla., plus gourmet meals and a personal trainer.

The End of the Road Trust is suing Street, now Orange County's treasurer-tax collector, for $7 million. The lawsuit alleges that Street looted the trust during his seven-year tenure as trustee.

At The Register's request, the trust released nine days of testimony by Street plus two days of testimony by his wife Victoria and some 200 exhibits. Together the testimony and exhibits offer by far the most detailed account of Street's career as a bankruptcy trustee.

In addition to the lawsuit, Street faces criminal investigations by county and federal prosecutors.

Here are some other highlights of yet another amazing story of those good old-fashioned Southern California Republican conservative "values."

• collecting more than $7,000 in reimbursements from the trust after buying a $3,584 laptop computer for his private business in January 2005.
• The trust paid nearly $10,000 to send Street, his wife and son, and several trust executives to a Hawaiian resort in early December 2002. Street testified that he returned home the day after arriving because one executive had served liquor to his underage child. "I thought that inappropriate things had happened," he testified, "and I do not allow inappropriate things to happen, and we went home."
• The trust paid $6,000 for Street's personal trainer in 1999. Street said he needed rehabilitation for a bad back.
• The trust paid $395.84 for an overnight stay in 2002 by Street and his wife at the Don CeSar Beach Resort in St. Pete Beach, Fla., which bills itself as a romantic getaway. Street said they were there to visit a trailer dealer 65 miles away in Lakeland. He said he brought his wife, who was not yet working for the trust, to help him "entertain the dealer and his wife and build a strong relationship for the company."
• The trust paid $750.60 for a dinner at Spago in Beverly Hills on Feb. 13, 2000. Street said he couldn't recall the business purpose for the meal but said he probably ate with an employee, James Wong. Earlier this year, Street awarded Wong, an Irvine business consultant, a $23,000 no-bid contract with the county.

Tell us again how the Reagan-Bush Republicans are the party of fiscal and personal "responsibility." Then after we pick ourselves up off the floor, let's have a good laugh over how the Democratic Party of Governor Gray Davis is gonna fix it.

Another reason why we need the Green Party.

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