County S Bankruptcy

Orange County bankruptcy attorney Bruce Bennett said Friday that the county has honored all withdrawal requests from minors who had money from court settlements in the county's collapsed investment pool, and plans to continue to reimburse them in full, although others with court-related accounts will probably get only 70 to 75 cents on the dollar. The county also plans to pay the minors the interest earned on their settlements since the county's bankruptcy filing Dec. 6.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John E. Ryan ruled Thursday that under bankruptcy and federal laws, he cannot ultimately rule on six out of seven claims in Orange County's lawsuit against Merrill Lynch & Co. The county's lawsuit alleges that the Wall Street firm "wantonly and callously" sold risky investments to the county, and seeks $2.4 billion in damages.

Responding to public demands to make government more accessible and responsive, Orange County Board of Supervisors Chairman Gaddi H. Vasquez today will drive the county onto the ever-expanding information superhighway. Soon, anyone with a computer, a modem and an urge to vent about the county's bankruptcy or any other issue will be able to link up directly to officials at the Hall of Administration via the Internet.

Orange County's charities have been battered in recent years by a recession that cut giving, disasters that increased requests for help, and a decrease in companies that once were major donors. Now comes the county's bankruptcy, sparking more concern over people's ability and willingness to give. Last year a number of churches and nonprofit agencies reported that donations appeared to have stabilized after dropping for several years.

Specter on the spot: It wasn't only hostile anti-abortion protesters who greeted presidential candidate Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) last week when he addressed a gathering at the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace in Yorba Linda. He was also hit with a question about his thoughts on the Senate's rejection of sexual harassment charges lodged against then-Supreme Court Justice nominee Clarence Thomas by Anita F. Hill, the University of Oklahoma law professor.

A federal judge Friday denied a request by three public agencies to delay adoption of a settlement plan for the $5.7 billion remaining in the county's collapsed investment pool, clearing for now the last legal hurdle for final approval of the proposal. "Nobody here is being bound to a certain treatment other than voluntarily," said U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John E. Ryan during an emergency hearing. "Each has the right to accept or not accept this offer."

County officials estimated in January that its squadron of pricey lawyers and accountants handling the bankruptcy would cost taxpayers $12 million by June 30. On Tuesday, figures disclosed by state Auditor Kurt Sjoberg showed the county's first estimate was 100% wrong. The new price tag for all that professional talent will top $24 million. And that doesn't include the expenses of at least two prominent investment banking firms the county has agreed to hire.

The organizer of a movement to oust Supervisor Roger R. Stanton admitted Wednesday that he might not be able to gather the 15,000 signatures needed by July to force a recall election. Felix Rocha, a trustee with the Orange County Department of Education, declined to state the number of signatures he and his supporters have gathered in the month and a half since the effort began. "I don't want to give any ammunition to Roger Stanton," he said.

In their latest gambit to ease an intensifying cash crunch, Orange County officials on Thursday laid out a proposal to unilaterally extend for one year--at existing interest rates--$1.275 billion in short-term county and school debt due this summer. But representatives of bondholder groups quickly disputed the need for the so-called rollover and predicted that without the promise of a higher interest payout, the proposal almost certainly would be rejected by most bondholders.