No Room for Partisanship

Early next month a committee composed of the county’s 26 mayors will decide on whether to elect Daniel E. Griset, the mayor of Santa Ana, to another four-year term as the the League of Cities representative on the Orange County Transportation Commission, which Griset currently chairs, and the Orange County Transit District.

The yardstick the selection committee should use in making its choice is how good a job Griset has done the last four years and whether his past service and ability qualify him to remain on the panels to which he is seeking reappointment. Unfortunately, other forces are at play.

Griset is a Democrat. That should have nothing to do with whether he is selected to serve another term as the cities’ transportation representative. Unfortunately, his political registration does have something to do with his reappointment. And therein lies the problem.

There seems to be a move afoot by some Republican leaders to identify and oust Democrats from every nonpartisan elective office in Orange County, including not only the transportation panels but the city councils, school boards, judicial posts and every special district seat.

It’s a development to be regretted by all, not just the Democrats. The partisan affiliation is not a reliable measure for choosing the best leaders, and the intrusion of partisanship at the local level can serve no useful purpose. The tactic should be rejected.

Recent state Supreme Court decisions may have opened the door to more partisan activity in local, nonpartisan government, although the Legislature is considering bills to close that door. And it is no secret that some nonpartisan officials have abused their positions for partisan advantage in the game of politics. But voters generally have wisely demonstrated no interest in intrusion of party politics in nonpartisan areas of government.

Yorba Linda City Councilman Henry Wedaa, who is trying to unseat Griset, perhaps revealed more than he intended when he asserted that city officials are concerned that Griset “is trying to build a power base . . . so he can run for something else. We certainly don’t need ultra-liberal Democrats like Griset in our Legislature because we have enough of them already, and as far as I’m concerned anything we can do to stop him we will.” In other words, Wedaa was more concerned about the possibility of Griset going on to higher responsibilities than the qualifications of Griset for the nonpartisan post. If that’s why some officials are after Griset, the City Selection Committee should take a step back and have no part of it.

The selection committee and the League of Cities don’t need someone like Wedaa playing hardball politics and using them to carry out a political party’s long-range campaign strategy, even if that political party happens to be theirs. The efficiency and independence of local government, to which their service is dedicated, deserve more.

If Wedaa’s approach is allowed to prevail, where does it end? How active will political parties become and what prerequisites and promises will they demand from candidates who would have to secure party support to win a nonpartisan election? And how healthy is it for government for a political party, any political party, to be in control of every elected seat in the county? Griset in his service on the two transportation panels has demonstrated ability. He understands the problems and his knowledge and energy have led to his appointment as chairman of the state League of Cities Transportation Policy Committee and his election as the first council member from Orange County on the board of directors of the National League of Cities.

Those are the kinds of credentials, not party affiliation, that must be considered.

The June 6 election for the open board seat on the transportation panels and Griset’s candidacy will be a testing ground of whether people who serve in local government are to be selected on ability and their approach to issues or just on party affiliation and partisan political game plans. If partisanship prevails, the public and good government could be the losers.