Ferguson and Development

Most people, even conservatives who argue that power belongs with local jurisdictions, probably shuddered on reading Gil Ferguson’s rambling espousal (Dec. 14) calling for transferring local power to the state. What you have here apparently is a political developer who views (correctly) most Orange County residents as killing his development business. That is, voters have grown uneasy with unbridled growth, seeing their neighborhood becoming a sprawling megalopolis, jammed with traffic.

This uneasiness is reflected whenever voters speak. Witness the overwhelming defeat of Proposition A, the Irvine election throwing out the growth City Council, Newport Beach’s rejection of the Irvine Co.’s gargantuan development and rumblings from half a dozen other county towns.

In his plea for jerking power from the towns, Ferguson seems to be trying the old red herring technique. You know, distract and frighten a gullible public into acceptance of the perpetrators’ objectives.

In this case, Ferguson seems to be wrapping traffic problems into his cry for development. But one suspects that Ferguson in his drive to separate the locals from their right to say what they want their neighborhood to be may be separating himself from his seat in the Assembly. For it is his constituents that rejected the recent Irvine Co. development proposal. When people believe that their representatives are using their elected positions to advance their personal objectives, they don’t like it.

TOM ALEXANDER

Laguna Beach