WHAT THEY WERE SAYING

“It’s only a paper loss” -- County officials, after the Dec. 1 crash that

caused the county’s investment pool to lose $1.5 billion in value.

“This is the biggest bankruptcy in the history of the world.” -- Newport

Beach City Manager Kevin Murphy.

“Almost everything that you do pales in comparison to the impact of

what’s happened here. Bankruptcy. That’s a hard word for me even to say.”

-- Tom Riley, outgoing chairman of the Board of Supervisors, reflecting

on how the filing would paint his board career.

“I thought that Monday was the worst day of my life when [Willie] Brown

manipulated the Legislature. Then I came back and realized that Tuesday

was the worst day of my life.” -- Marian Bergeson, who left the state

Senate to replace Tom Riley as a county supervisor.

“It’s simply a decrease in the amount of earnings we expected to make.

It’s not money we gave up.” -- Mike Fine, director or business services

for Newport-Mesa Unified School District.

“This is not the end of the world. Kids will get their education,

teachers are going to get paid.” -- Newly elected school board member

Wendy Leece, who also said she thought the media had “overblown” the

bankruptcy and instilled “fear and panic” in the community.