Orange County Treasurer and Tax Collector Shari Freidenrich tried to fire her top deputy Dana Schultz last week just days after Schultz pulled papers to run against her in the June 2026 election.
While Freidenrich is one of the few independently elected department heads at the county, the county HR department and legal team ultimately intervened to stop Schultz’s firing, despite the fact that Freidenrich said Schultz is an at-will employee.
“The position is at will,” Freidenrich said in a Tuesday night interview. “Anything beyond that is a personnel matter.”
Schultz declined to comment on Tuesday night in a statement to Voice of OC.
“As this is a personnel matter, I would prefer not to publicly comment at this time,” Schultz wrote. “I trust the appropriate internal County processes will address the matter.”
On Monday Jan. 12, Schultz officially pulled papers from the county registrar of voter’s office, the first step to get on the ballot.
By Thursday afternoon, Freidenrich sent out an email at around 2 p.m. saying Schultz was “no longer employed with the TTC (Treasurer-Tax Collector) as my Executive Manager.”
“I am blessed to have great staff, and I look forward to serving taxpayers with our great team in 2026 and implementing policies that benefit the taxpayers,” Freidenrich wrote. “I appreciate your patience during this transition and know that you will continue to carry out your day-to-day duties in an outstanding manner.”
The next day, county CEO Michelle Aguirre sent out a message to treasurer staff confirming that Schultz “is still employed with the County of Orange.”
“We understand that the unnecessary events that occurred yesterday in your workplace may have been unsettling,” Aguirre wrote. “We also want to be very clear about what matters most: your wellbeing, safety, and ability to do your job in a work environment free from discrimination, harassment, and retaliation.”
Schultz was set to remain in her position according to Aguirre’s letter, which encouraged staff to “follow the usual chain of command in your day-to-day work.”
It’s unclear who specifically made the decision to block Schultz’s firing.
“On advice of counsel, HRS ensured that Ms. Schultz remains on the County payroll and suffered no adverse employment action,” wrote county spokesperson Molly Nichelson in a Tuesday statement.
In a Tuesday statement, Orange County Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento said the “recent instability at the Treasurer Tax Collector’s office causes concerns and runs counter to a well-functioning and stable environment.”
“The County has procedures in place to protect employees from capricious actions or abuse, and we will continue working with our executive staff and our employee groups to make sure all processes are followed and our employees are supported,” Sarmiento wrote.
Supervisor Katrina Foley declined to comment beyond confirming Schultz was still employed, while Supervisors Doug Chaffee and Janet Nguyen declined to comment.
After publication, Supervisor Don Wagner said he was “outraged,” by Schultz’s attempted firing, saying “the firing won’t be allowed to stand.”
“This misconduct by Friedenrich demonstrates why her office is in turmoil and the elected leadership and senior county administration have lost faith in her,” Wagner wrote. “Friedenrich should retire and go away, rather than embark on a campaign that will bring her incompetence, misfeasance, and malfeasance increased under public scrutiny.”
He also endorsed Schultz’s run for treasurer.
“We have a great person and very competent financial professional in Dana Schultz ready to step into the position and I completely support Dana in her run for Treasurer-Tax Collector.”
If Schultz does run against Freidenrich, it would be the first time she’s faced a challenger since 2010, according to county registrar records.
The attempted firing comes after Freidenrich had many of her powers stripped away by county supervisors last year when they tried to quietly wrest control of the county’s $17 billion investment fund before ultimately admitting they took over the fund out of concerns for how she ran her office.
[Read: OC Supervisors Break Silence; Publicly Blast Treasurer’s Alleged Workplace Hostility]
At the time, county supervisors pointed to multiple problems in her office, including an independent investigation that found Freidenrich violated the county’s workplace violence policy multiple times, including one instance where investigators say she likely threw keys at one of her employees.
There was also a 2021 performance audit of Freidenrich that found unusually high staff turnover in the department.
In the past, Freidenrich has said supervisors’ attempt to interfere with how she manages the funds could be illegal in a letter to state Assemblyman Avelino Valencia last year.
“In a county often beset by controversies involving its public officials, my office enjoys a reputation for the highest fiscal integrity, transparency of records and accountability,” Freidenrich wrote. “The voters trust who I am and what I do.”
Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org.