OC Treasurer Chriss Street sent a fiery letter to the Board of Supervisors earlier today in which he fired back at various critics antagonizing him over the county's investment in the Whistlejacket SIV.

He also sent a request for retraction to the OC Register, blasting the paper's March 14 article line-by-line.

Here are the OC Treasurer's March 14 portfolio report on Whistlejacket, and the British court's Whistlejacket judgment.

Street takes some veiled-but-obvious shots at an unnamed county supervisor:

The situation with the Whistlejacket Capital SIV is too important to permit the media, politicians, and union bosses to create unnecessary panic with speculation and misinformation. The issue is too serious for individuals to take matters into their own hands without the knowledge of County Counsel. Off-the-cuff remarks, inaccurate assessments and veiled threats serve only to undermine the efforts of County Counsel and the Treasurer's office.

and...

Our office learned yesterday from Whistlejacket's Trustee, Bank of New York, that on February 27 one of the Board circumvented the established legal protocol of utilizing County Counsel and obtained independent access to confidential documents. We believe all Board members should have equal access to information so that when snippets of these documents appear in the press, each of you has the facts and can make your own conclusions. As such, if any other Board member desires their own confidential access code and password to the secured Trustee website please contact my office and we will make the necessary arrangements.

In both the Board Memo and Retraction request, Street forcefully makes the case that the County is not in danger of losing $80 million, stating that instead the Whistlejacket portfolio's assets are 101.3% of par value of senior debt.

Furthermore, Street rebuts the OCR article's reporting that junior creditors are leap-frogging senior note holders  like the Coounty of Orange to  "cherry pick" the "pristine assets of the SIV":

In fact, over $11 billion of the Whistlejacket SIV was purchased in the last few months by Junior Creditors at 100% of par in pro rata "vertical slices." This means that if 4% of the portfolio is security XYZ, then 4% of the assets the Junior Creditor (also known as Capital Note Holder) vertical slice purchases will also be XYZ. The sale of vertical slices does not hurt Orange County's prospect of recovery. We have submitted to the Register a request for a retraction and attached it for your perusal.

In closing, Street states:

Despite what some would have you believe, the sky is not falling and the county has not lost $80 million. In fact, as of today, the county has lost nothing and any statement to the contrary is simply overreaction to turbulence in the market. This speculation can only be fueled by a desire to either sell papers or promote a political agenda.

We seem to have settled into a cycle here. A lull, then an alarum sounded in the media and the Board, followed by a statement from Street that everyone needs to stop hairing out and calm down.

Frankly, I'm becoming more inclined towards Street's point of view.