Filling the Void

On Tuesday, when Bruce Nestande’s resignation from the Orange County Board of Supervisors becomes official, the replacement derby seeking his successor in the 3rd District will formally begin. That contest, however, has actually been going on behind the scenes for weeks, ever since rumors began surfacing that Nestande was planning to resign after six years of service on the county board.

The biggest game in Orange County political circles now is trying to guess who the governor will name to replace Nestande. There is no shortage of hopefuls. There are at least a half-dozen credible candidates thus far, several of whom seem to have the leadership and ability qualities needed, and more names pop up each day for the political race that will be decided by one vote--the governor’s.

We are not prepared at this point to suggest a name, but the qualifications are easy to list. The most important of those would be experience in local government and a broad acquaintance, preferably at first hand, with the district and its problems. It is also important, in an urban area of Orange County’s size, that the governor make the appointment as soon as possible. Dragging out the selection not only would intensify the circus atmosphere that surrounds the gubernatorial appointment process but also would leave too many people in the rapidly growing 3rd District without needed representation. Such a delay would also be unfair to the other supervisors, who in the interim will be doing their best to fill the void for district residents.

Nestande’s departure doesn’t mean that there will be a major policy shift on the county board. There have been occasional differences among board members, but there are no deep philosophical divisions or political voting blocs, so no drastic change in board direction is expected. But Nestande has been under investigation by federal and local law-enforcement authorities in connection with their probe of political corruption involving W. Patrick Moriarty, the former Anaheim fireworks manufacturer who is serving a federal prison term for his conviction on mail-fraud charges arising out of political-corruption activities. The new supervisor will help remove that cloud and bring to the county board greater credibility and public confidence.