OC Political

Last night I became aware of a developing story out of Sacramento with Orange County ties. It appears that Orange County Supervisor John Moorlach is currently exploring a run for Governor of California, He has been rumored to be up in Sacramento within the last week looking into what kind of support that he would get if he were to jump into the race. Currently the only candidate that has officially announced for the post is Assemblyman Tim Donnelly. In my opinion Moorlach would be an infinitely better choice for Republicans than Donnelly.

Moorlach got his start in Orange County politics by losing in a race against Bob Citron for the Orange County Treasurer-Tax Collector position in 1994. After the County went bankrupt in December 1994 Moorlach was appointed to the position after three months by the County Board of Supervisors. He served for 11 years as the Orange County Treasurer-Tax Collector before making a run for Supervisor (2nd District succeeding Jim Silva) in 2006 and defeating Stanton Councilmember David Shawver.

Supervisor Moorlach has a more extensive biography up on his Supervisorial website:

The Honorable John M. W. Moorlach, C.P.A., is the Second District Supervisor on the Orange County Board of Supervisors, representing the cities of Costa Mesa, Cypress, Huntington Beach, La Palma, Los Alamitos, Newport Beach, Seal Beach, Stanton, and a portion of Buena Park and Fountain Valley.

Supervisor Moorlach currently serves on several boards, commissions, and committees, including: the Orange County Transportation Authority, the Orange County Vector Control District, the Orange County Local Agency Formation Commission, the Orange County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (Chairman), the Orange County Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council, the Orange County Ending Homelessness Commission (Chairman), the Newport Bay Watershed Executive Committee (Chairman), the Children and Families Commission of Orange County (alternate), the National Association of Counties, the Orange County Council of Governments (alternate), the Southern California Association of Governments (alternate), the Southern California Regional Airport Authority, the Southern California Water Committee, the South Orange County Watershed Management Area Executive Committee, and the California State Association of Counties Board of Directors, including its Executive Committee and the Urban Counties Caucus (representing the most populated counties in California).

Prior to being elected to the Board of Supervisors in 2006, he served as the Orange County Treasurer-Tax Collector for nearly twelve years. Supervisor Moorlach has the distinction of having predicted the largest local government investment portfolio loss and the second largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. He has been a voice on major fiscal issues facing the county, state, and the nation. He is a noted and respected long-time advocate for public employee pension reform and serves on the California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility Advisory Board.

Prior to serving as Orange County Treasurer-Tax Collector, Moorlach was Vice President of Balser, Horowitz, Frank & Wakeling, an Accountancy Corporation, and was the administrative partner of its Costa Mesa office. He served on numerous nonprofit and industry related boards during his eighteen years in public practice and was a frequent writer and speaker on financially related topics.

Moorlach is a California history enthusiast and served as Vice President of the Gold Discovery to Statehood California (1848-1850) Sesquicentennial Foundation Board. He has photographed nearly all of the State’s historical landmarks, a program under the auspices of the State Historical Resources Commission. Consequently, he has visited every county in the state, some on numerous occasions, and has enjoyed multiple drives on Highway One, from San Diego County to Crescent City and beyond.

Moorlach graduated from California State University in Long Beach in 1977 and passed the C.P.A. exam in 1978. He completed his studies for the Certified Financial Planner designation in 1987. He earned a Certificate in Public Finance from the University of Delaware, Division of Continuing Education in 1995, the Certificate of Achievement in Public Plan Policy (CAPPP) in Employee Pensions in 1999 and the Trustees Masters Program in 2003 through the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, and the New Supervisors Training Institute in 2007 from California State University in Sacramento in cooperation with their Center for California Studies.

As far as I can tell, no other news agency or blog has run anything on this, but hopefully over the coming weeks some more information will become available.