Griset’s Transportation Positions

If Dan Griset is voted off the Orange County Transportation Commission and the Orange County Transportation District, it will not necessarily be because of partisan politics as your May 19 editorial implied. The person chosen by the Orange County Division of the League of California Cities to serve on the OCTC and the OCTD must be truly representative of all the county.

Last June, county voters overwhelmingly turned down a grandiose, expensive transportation plan that would have provided hundreds of millions of sales tax dollars for the Transit District to manipulate towards satisfying the wishes of certain special interests.

The La Habra City Council and the La Habra Area Chamber of Commerce voted to oppose Proposition A, feeling that it was unfair to our merchants and our taxpayers, as well as not providing a fair return to our community. While the Transit District was directing an exorbitant public relations campaign, Griset in turn was rude and pompous toward our city as well as towards me personally at the time that I was serving as mayor. Griset was quoted in The Times that he was not really concerned with our opposition as he did not consider us as part of the county. We were incorporated in this county in 1925.

Griset’s ill-fated $100,000 Santa Ana downtown shuttle bus fiasco is also fresh in the minds of many concerned with extravagant, unwarranted boondoggles targeted for local gain.

While the cities’ representatives on the OCTD and the OCTC may not agree with all the cities all the time, it is essential that they demonstrate statesmanlike qualities. Whether Dan Griset or another candidate will be most capable of serving in an objective, intelligent, fair-minded and evenhanded manner should determine the support to be given on June 6.

DOROTHY WEDEL

La Habra

Wedel is a member of the La Habra City Council .