The Honeymoon Continues

Spitzer, however, didn't want to hear the blame games or participate in cover-ups. "We have to be more insightful," the 3rd District supervisor said. "We have to be on top of our game all the time because we're talking about hundreds of millions of dollars."

The Moorlach debacle doesn't end there. In December, the treasurer formed what he called a "critically important" committee to secretly negotiate with Edison. He has refused to reveal the identities of the committee members or publicly disclose records of their association and dealings with Edison. Moorlach will only say that the committee is composed of other Edison creditors.

This marks a dramatic change for the treasurer. When he took office, he promised, "There is not going to be anything secretive." But six years have passed, and Moorlach isn't the wide-eyed newcomer anymore; now he's a powerful incumbent.

Even as he blocked public disclosure, Moorlach's spokesman Brett R. Barbre boldly said, "There aren't any questions we're going to run away from. Everything we do is wide-open and public."