OC Blog

Debate Over OCERS Investment Strategy

Readers might find this article from yesterday's Pensions & Investments Online of interest, given that the subject is the Orange County Employee Retirement System's investment portfolio (H/T to Sup. Moorlach's "Moorlach Update" e-mail):

Debate over investment risk roils Orange County

By Arleen Jacobius
Posted: September 3, 2007, 6:01 AM EST

SANTA ANA, Calif. — Ever since Orange County filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection in 1994, its $7.7 billion pension system’s board has considered itself to be fairly risk averse.

But Chriss Street, the county treasurer/tax collector who sits on the board of the Orange County Employees Retirement System, Santa Ana, doesn’t see it that way. Mr. Street said in an interview that the system’s asset allocation has incorporated too much risk by including swaps and bank loans in one of its least risky fixed-income portfolios.

Redecorating The Supes

Yesterday, the OC Register ran it's latest story on the $513,566 spent by Supervisors John Moorlach, Pat Bates and Janet Nguyen to redecorate and rehabilitate their offices.

These are irresistible stories for the media, mainstream or not, and raise a legitimate questions about stewardship of public dollars.

Half-a-million is a lot of money, but if one considers it's been 32 years since those offices have been touched then it's puts it in a proper context. Reasonable people can disagree over particular expenditures, but renovating a county supervisor's office every third-of-a-century is not unreasonable -- although I think Supervisor Nguyen and staff were guilty of bad political judgment, because this one will be good for several hit pieces against her candidacy for re-election.

Marilyn Davenport on the New County Community Service Center

Marilyn Davenport, a GOP Central Committee Member, wrote this Letter to the Editor on the recent 3-2 decision by the Board of Supervisors to create a County Community Service Office in the 1st District.  Davenport's letter was printed in the Orange County Register's Sunday edition.  Below is the full text.

Nguyen's satellite office sets a bad precedent

"Authority intoxicates, And makes mere sots of magistrates; The fumes of it invade the brain. And make men (women, too) giddy, proud and vain."

Money Problems For Janet?

I'm not so sure.

Christian Berthelsen's article in the LA Times did a fine job of delineating the challenges facing Sup. Janet Nguyen as she prepares to seek re-election in a year.

I've been critical of Janet, but I also recognize she possesses that relentlessness that separates politicians  who are formidable fund-raisers from those who are anemic fund-raisers. Janet falls squarely in the former category, and it would be a mistake to underestimate her in this regard.

Where'd The Outsourcing Story Come From?

I'm a the only one who finds the timing of the traffic ticket outsourcing story suspicious?

Does anyone believe John & Ken found it one their own?

The OC Board of Supervisors is going to vote tomorrow on whether to rescind the retroactive portion of AOCDS' 2001 pension spike.

A few days before hand, John & Ken magically discover the outsourcing contract, post it on their website and hold the Board of Supervisors responsible and urge their listeners to call the supes.

The Brouhaha Over Outsourcing Traffic Ticket Data Processing

Tomorrow will be a big day at the Board of Supervisors. In addition to voting on Sup. Moorlach's request to rescind the AOCDS' retroactive pension spike, the Board will deal with the fallout over the OC Court's outsourcing of traffic ticket data entry to Cerritos-based CCDE -- which has the actual data entry performed at a facility in Nogales, Mexico.

Personally, I don't think the outsourcing is that big a deal, although I'd like to know whether CCDE has conducted its own back-ground checks on the Nogales personnel doing the data entry.

Touring County Parks With Sup. Norby

I found out the county Department of Harbors, Beaches and Parks would be giving Supervisor Chris Norby a tour last Friday of the San Juan Hot Springs at Caspers Wilderness Park and the Helena Modjeska Historic House and Gardens, so I tagged along.

The specific destination at Caspers was the hot springs, located near the Ortega Highway near Hot Springs Canyon Road that takes one to the Lazy W Ranch Camp. I actually drove past the back gate where I was to meet up with the rest of the party (Sup. Norby, HBP Director Parker Hancock, HBP Deputy Director Mark Denny, Deputy CEO Alise Drakodaidis, and HBP South District Supervisor John Gannaway) and wound up on a long drive through the canyon that ultimately dead-ends at the Lazy W. I was surprised to see a number of private cabin tucked away in the canyon on land leased from the U.S. forest Service decades ago. Most of the homes look like they were built in the 1920s and 1930s, and I envy the folks who own them.

It was a short hike to the top of the hot springs:

Supes Approve Janet Nguyen Field Office Proposal

I wasn't watching the online video, but I just heard the Board of Supervisors approved Sup. Janet Nguyen's proposal for a one-year pilot program creating a "County Community Customer Service Center" in Westminster.

The vote was 3-2: Nguyen, Bates and Campbell in favor, Moorlach and Norby against.

This should be good fodder for several re-election mailers.

UPDATE: Here's Peggy Lowe's post on Total Buzz.

Supes To Act On Creating Performance Auditor

Much of the attention at today's OC Board of Supervisors meeting will be focused on Sup. Janet Nguyen's proposal for a field office/customer service center. Lord knows I've given a lot of attention to it on this blog. There'll certainly be more discussion and maybe debate, but at the end of the day I've little doubt the Board will approve some form of Janet's request.

There's another item on the agenda I think will have a greater impact on county government: creation of the office of Performance Auditor.

As the name imply, the Performance Auditor will examine and audit county programs from a performance perspective, rather than a more conventional number-crunching approach. Significantly, this new office will report directly to the Board of Supervisors, meaning any findings embarrassing to county departments or staff won't have to run through a staff filter before the Supervisors see it.

Janet Nguyen Explains Her Field Office Idea

This is from the "Janet Journal" e-mail newsletter, which was sent out today:

Many people are talking about my proposal for a County Community Service Center (CCSC).  The CCSC proposal is a one-year pilot program and will be re-evaluated by the Board next year.  It does not add any additional personnel or increase the district budget. Instead, this proposal seeks to take, for a few hours a week, a few staff members away from the cubicle jungle directly to the people and reduce the barrier between the service providers and the clients they serve.