Orange County voters have spoken: Put Treasurer-Tax Collector Shari Freidenrich back in charge of the county’s investment portfolio. On June 2, she cruised to re-election with 72% of the vote versus 28% for Dana L. Schultz, who was previously Freidenrich’s deputy.

“I am very grateful that the voters spoke and selected me to continue as their treasurer-tax collector,” Freidenrich told me. “I’m out speaking to the public all the time. They want government to have common sense and be efficient.”

To recap, in late 2024 the Orange County Board of Supervisors unanimously moved to strip Freidenrich of her investment authority. In February 2025, the Board of Supervisors gave the $17 billion county portfolio to county CEO Michelle Aguirre. Under that arrangement, the fund is now managed by Schultz.

The move followed allegations of a toxic workplace and aggressive management by Freidenrich. One allegation that was particularly amplified against her said that Freidenrich threw keys at an employee. She told LAist she was a “klutz” and what actually happened was that she “tripped on the way to the door to give the staff the keys. The keys flew out of my hands.”

It was good Freidenrich faced an opponent so the problems that cropped up could be addressed in public. That’s why we have elections.

Let’s get this over with. The voters have judged that Freidenrich deserves another term. Employees who really didn’t like Freidenrich’s management style have already left. Those who were OK with it stayed. And new hires presumably brought catcher’s mitts.

But beyond elections and democracy, there are investment realities and Orange County knows that all too well. 

When Bill Clinton took office in 1993, he was told his aggressive spending platform couldn’t be achieved. As quoted in Bob Woodward’s “The Agenda,” the new president erupted, “You mean to tell me that the success of the economic program and my reelection hinges on the Federal Reserve and a bunch of [expletive] bond traders?” 

The next year, in 1994, Orange County found that out the hard way. Treasurer-Tax Collector Bob Citron bet interest rates would stay low, but they went up – and the county tumbled into a $1.7 billion bankruptcy.

Accountant John Moorlach ran against Citron that year, warning of the risky investments, but lost. Later, he was appointed to the job to clean up the mess left by Citron, and went on to be elected multiple times. 

This year, in a March 2 op-ed in the Register, Moorlach charged the board, through Aguirre, “has pirated the Treasurer’s office and is now plundering it.”

As he explained, “As time has gone by, this looks more like a revenue enhancement play. It’s one thing to pursue the removal of the management authority of an elected department head, which is a whole other topic of severe concern. It’s another to take advantage of the situation to generate more revenues. And as we said three decades ago, the higher the yield the higher the risk.”

As I wrote in my March 8 column about the matter titled, “Why Orange County can’t afford to ignore Moorlach a second time,” the county was wrong to strip Freidenrich of her authority. “It seems to me, if a crisis is solved, and the solution keeps working, you should keep it,” I wrote. 

A lot has happened since March. The Iran War, which started Feb. 28, hit its 100th day on Monday. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell recently was replaced by Kevin Warsh. On June 3, Fidelity reported, “Rising inflation and surprisingly strong economic growth have been putting upward pressure on interest rates.” 

And we’re all paying more for gas, food and everything.

I can’t predict the future. And don’t take investment advice from a political columnist. But this obviously is no time to be making risky investments with the taxpayers’ money. Our money.

Of California’s 58 counties, only in OC is the investment portfolio not controlled by the treasurer-tax collector. “I believe I’m well qualified to continue making sure our liquidity is safe and that we’re earning a market return on the funds,” Freidenrich said. Under her management, the county’s portfolio was safe, and ranked in the top four California counties, with a pool yield of 4.246%.

That’s why Freidenrich should be put back in charge of the county’s portfolio. Now. 

Let Shari fix it.

John Seiler is on the SCNG Editorial Board