Newport Beach residents who helped reelect Shari Freidenrich as Orange County Treasurer-Tax Collector with more than 70% of the vote on Wednesday, June 3 now face a grand jury recommendation that would strip them of that choice. Any such change would require voters themselves to approve a county charter amendment.

The Orange County Grand Jury released "Unbalanced Authority: Oversight and Accountability in Orange County Government" on Friday, June 12, nine days after Freidenrich's landslide primary win. The report recommends converting the Treasurer-Tax Collector from an elected position to an appointed one. Separately, it proposes a charter reform that would let the Board of Supervisors remove any independently elected county official by a supermajority vote of the five-member board.

The proposal arrives against a backdrop of moves the board has already made to weaken Freidenrich's office.

What the board already did

In late 2024, supervisors stripped Freidenrich of authority over the county's $17-billion investment pool, making Orange County the only county in California whose treasurer does not manage that core function, according to LA Times reporting. The board handed the pool to her deputy, Dana Schultz, who then ran against Freidenrich in the June 2026 primary. After Freidenrich won anyway, the board approved deep staffing cuts to her 70-person office.

Mark Geragos, an attorney for Freidenrich, told the LA Times: "We've seen this movie before when Orange County last went bankrupt."

Supervisors split on the idea

County Supervisor Don Wagner pushed back on the supermajority removal proposal. "I'm not sure you want to give that sort of additional power to supervisors," Wagner told the LA Times. "If it's misconduct that, God forbid, rises to the level of ex-supervisor Andrew Do, law enforcement can step in. If it's something short of that, there's always a recall."

Wagner's reference to Do is pointed. The former supervisor was sentenced to five years in federal prison in 2025 for steering more than $10 million in pandemic relief funds for personal gain.

A June 30 UCI survey of 1,200 Orange County residents found half believe county government is run to benefit a few big interests, a finding that cut across party lines.

What happens next

Under California Penal Code section 933(c), the Board of Supervisors must formally respond to the grand jury's findings within 90 days of the report's June 12 filing. No board agenda item or hearing date has been scheduled.

Converting the Treasurer-Tax Collector to an appointed position would require a county charter amendment placed before voters. Newport Beach residents can contact their county supervisor or submit public comment when the board takes up its formal response.