Treasurer wants power suspended

Orange County Treasurer and Newport Beach resident Chriss Street will not run for reelection in November and has asked the Board of Supervisors to temporarily suspend his investment authority.

In a letter to the Board of Supervisors on Friday, Street recommended that they temporarily delegate his investment powers to Auditor-Controller David Sunderstrom.

The authority transfer would allow Street to “weigh my legal options,” he wrote.

A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge last week handed down a $7-million judgment against Street for breaching his fiduciary duties while he was a trustee for a bankrupt trust from 1998 to 2005.

“...Some will seek to use this civil judgment to diminish the accomplishments of the Treasurer-Tax Collector’s staff, and cast doubt on our operations in an effort to advance their own agendas,” Street wrote.

— Brianna Bailey