Nestande Says Goodby to Office, Not to Politics

On his 49th birthday and his first day as a private citizen in more than a decade, retired Orange County Supervisor Bruce Nestande pledged Wednesday to remain active in politics, if not in public service.

“Politics, without question, I think is about as dynamic a career as one could ever have in life,” Nestande said after the four supervisors honored him with a resolution praising his six-year career as a supervisor.

“I’ll never leave politics, because it’s just in my blood,” Nestande said. “And there are many ways to participate in politics. You need not be a public officeholder, you can be a volunteer in politics, and (there are) a lot of things you can do in politics.”

Nestande’s resignation to pursue an unspecified job in the private sector became effective Tuesday. Gov. George Deukmejian will appoint a successor, since Nestande resigned halfway through his second four-year term. Previously, Nestande had been a Republican assemblyman for six years and before that an aide to Ronald Reagan when he served as California’s governor.

After the ceremony, Nestande said he supports his former aide, Ron Rogers, to succeed him.

“There are many qualified candidates” who want the seat, Nestande said, “but how can I not support a person who performed such exemplary service for me for 12 years?”

Rogers is “very well-prepared to step in, he knows the issues,” Nestande said.

Rogers, now a political consultant and Republican Party activist, worked on Deukmejian’s 1982 and 1986 campaigns.