Gaddi Vasquez Takes Office as First Latino Supervisor

Gaddi H. Vasquez, the son of a minister and the grandson of Mexicans who immigrated to the United States 36 years ago, took office Friday as an Orange County supervisor, the youngest ever to hold the job.

“It was over a decade ago that I drove a police car out of the back lot of the Orange Police Department for the first time,” the 32-year-old Vasquez told friends and family, colleagues and well-wishers who filled the Board of Supervisors hearing room to overflowing.

“It was then that I began to view the world through the windshield of a patrol car, a unique opportunity to see firsthand the tragic consequences of crime and, at the same time, the bravery and heroism of people in their quest to maintain safe communities.”

After four years as a police officer, Vasquez worked for the City of Riverside and then, from 1981 to 1984, as an aide to Supervisor Bruce Nestande. Nestande’s resignation in January to go to work for developer George Argyros created the vacancy that Vasquez filled on the five-member board. He will represent the 3rd Supervisorial District.

From 1985 until becoming a supervisor, Vasquez worked in the administration of Gov. George Deukmejian, the man who appointed him to replace Nestande. Vasquez most recently was chief deputy appointments secretary. He is the county’s first Latino supervisor.

Orange County Dist. Atty. Cecil Hicks turned the ceremony Friday into a political roast briefly, joking to Vasquez that he should enjoy the large, friendly crowd at the installation because it was unlikely that he would get such a turnout again--and “the only other time it will be friendly, you will be deceased.”

Hicks also drew laughter when he mentioned that “I have seen a lot of supervisors come and go.”

It was Hicks’ office’s investigations in the 1970s that led to the conviction and resignation from office of Supervisor Ralph Diedrich on bribery charges and the no-contest plea to charges of laundering campaign contributions by Supervisor Philip Anthony, who was subsequently defeated at the polls.

Among those on hand for the swearing-in were Fullerton Mayor Richard C. Ackerman, Brea City Council member Norma Arias Hicks and Mission Viejo municipal leader Chris Keena, all of whom were among the field of more than a dozen candidates for the job Vasquez was given.

The 3rd Supervisorial District has 460,885 residents and covers 309 square miles, from La Habra to Mission Viejo and east to the Riverside County line. Vasquez, his wife and 7-year-old son live in Mission Viejo.

Recalls Hard Work

“As I reflect on my life today, I am indeed fortunate to have had a family with strong ethics and a vision for my brother and me,” Vasquez said. “What we lacked in earthly and material possessions, we made up with hard work, mutual respect and a deep appreciation for life.”

Vasquez’s father, Guadalupe, an Apostolic Church minister in Orange, came to the United States in 1951, and the new supervisor was born in Carrizo Springs, Tex., in 1955.

Vasquez gave interviews in Spanish for Spanish-language television and radio stations after the ceremony and said later that “my principle is if I can provide an inspiration for Hispanics to become involved in the community and provide a role of leadership, I’ll be proud to do so.”

The 3rd District contains large chunks of unincorporated territory and areas where developers are seeking permission to build, often against the wishes of existing area residents who prefer to keep a more or less rural life style.

The crowd at the installation included numerous developers’ representatives and lobbyists, as well as county department heads, judges and aides to state Senate and Assembly members. The Orange County chapter of the Building Industry Assn. held a lunch for Vasquez after the ceremony.

Vasquez’s term ends next year, and he will have to run for election to the $58,906-a-year office in June, 1988.