ORANGE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA-- When former Orange County Treasurer-Tax Collector Robert L. Citron was riding high, he was arrogant and powerful, and he was the Savior of the county government. He was producing such great returns on public funds no one wanted to challenge his "know how." Local school districts borrowed $50 million just in order to put it in the county pool Citron was investing, because they had visions of big returns. When Citron's Ponzi scheme collapsed every public official and public agency was involved, but the scramble began for ways to distance themselves from the speculations that cost the county $1.7 billion in public funds, and which triggered the largest municipal bankruptcy in the history of the United States.

Every county program was cut. About 3,000 public employees were discharged. All services were reduced. No one admitted any complicity in the collapse. As the bankruptcy progressed, it came out that Citron had "mental problems," and consulted astrologers. It was all a set up to prevent the eventual imprisonment of the rich WASPs who caused what was nothing other than a massive embezzlement and misuse of public funds.

Although no definite decision may be made for several weeks, Robert Citron, the central figure in the bankruptcy (the Los Angeles Times described Citron as the man "perceived by many as the architect of the county's bankruptcy" to lessen the impact of the fact that the man actually WAS the architect of the bankruptcy), may be placed in a work furlough program that will allow him to serve the bulk of his "prison sentence" while living in his luxurious Newport Beach, California, home. Citron has been ordered to report to jail January 10th, and the Orange County Sheriff Brad Gates has sole discretion over whether to confine nonviolent offenders or put them to work on public property.

It was only last month that Los Angeles Superior Court Judge J. Stephen Czuleger scolded Citron, 72, for "gambling with public money" while sentencing him to a mere year in the county jail and fining him $100,000.00 for skimming interest earnings from schools, cities and small agencies, which he then placed in a county-run investment account. Czuleger also ordered Citron to serve five years of supervised probation, and to perform 1000 hours of community service. In one of the best illustrations of how corrupt the court system is, Czuleger acknowledged Citron's "remorse," his cooperation with authorities, and his "frail health," before setting aside his six year prison term, and gave a year in the county jail, which is like a walk in the park. Shoplifters get more time. Teenagers who make one innocent mistake in their lives and steal a car get more time in jail. Citron betrayed the public trust, lied about it, co-mingled funds, falsified accounts, attempted a cover-up, and then got caught red-handed, losing almost $2 billion in public funds, and bringing the county government to its knees, yet he will have to do no more than pick up trash for Caltrans, and do volunteer work at his church.

Citron was not only a traitor to the people of Orange County, California, he is a traitor to the people of the United States, and their faith in their nation. But he is not alone. He is joined with every other bureaucrat and crony who have now joined with him to cover it up, and help him get off without having to be accountable to the people of the United States, the people whose money he stole and lost. The County Government of Orange is a disgrace, and the change of supervisors is just so much smoke and mirrors, so that the embezzlement can go on, under the guise of legitimate programs. Additionally, what is going on in Orange County, California, is going on in every locality.

Having public programs is fine, but when they are full of holes that are being used to embezzle, then Americans are not getting their monies worth. Under the current circumstances, we could never pay enough in taxes, because no matter what we pay, the bureaucrats will steal it. There is no time to fix this system, there is only time enough to wake up to reality, and seek to dismantle it with non-violent, peaceful passive resistance.

(CNS, 25 DEC 1996)