Complaint against city treasurer filed with county

Eron Ben-Yehuda

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- A resident has filed complaints with the Orange

County Grand Jury and the district attorney’s office alleging the city

treasurer mismanaged millions of taxpayers dollars.

John Briscoe is demanding that an audit be performed on an account that

contains all of the uncollected city debts, which he estimates totals

more than $20 million, according to documents dated Friday.

City Treasurer Shari Freidenrich, who is responsible for keeping tabs on

the outside company hired to collect the money, isn’t doing her job, he

claims.

“It really stinks,” he said. “She has never looked at the books.”

Freidenrich could not be reached for comment on the matter.

Briscoe is arguing he’s only demanding what the law requires.

The city charter states, “The City Council shall provide for an

independent annual audit of all city accounts.” But the city doesn’t

single out one account for an audit, said Rich Barnard, the city’s

spokesman. Instead, a general audit of all accounts is performed every

year. The results are handed over to the city administrator and the

council, he said.

“We have no reports of mismanagement, misappropriation or mis-anything,”

he said.

City officials also dismissed Briscoe’s claims regarding how much money

sits in the account.

The city doesn’t have $20 million in uncollected debt, as Briscoe

suggests; the figure is closer to $3.4 million, City Atty. Gail Hutton

wrote in a letter dated last Thursday.

The kind of account at issue involves money owed to the city that was

never received, Barnard said. Anything from fees owed by a developer to a

water bill left unpaid by a resident ends up there for collection by the

outside company Data Line Corp., he said.

Briscoe had a dispute with Data Line about a bill, but he said the reason

he’s pushing for an investigation is the satisfaction of righting a

wrong.

“We don’t have any idea what [Data Line] is doing,” he said.

City officials have tried to convince Briscoe that the account is in

order, Barnard said.

“We’re trying to do everything we can within reason to be responsive to

him,” he said.

But Briscoe said he’s not satisfied.

“It’s a lot of gibberish,” he said.

That’s why he has turned to the Grand Jury and the district attorney’s

office.

“It’s sad that we can’t get things done any other way,” he said.

Barnard said he’s not worried about an official investigation.

“If that’s what the Grand Jury wants to do, then come on in,” he said.