Foes Blast Wieder Over Vote on Development

Orange County Supervisor Harriett Wieder, threatened with a recall this week after she voted in favor of a controversial development project, will be painted as pro-growth and anti-environment by two opponents in her campaign for Congress.

Wieder has been considered the front-runner in the race for the Republican nomination in the 42nd Congressional District, which stretches across the southern edge of the South Bay into northwest Orange County. But she ran into trouble on her home turf Wednesday when she voted for a plan to build more than 3,200 homes, 475,000 square feet of commercial space and two golf courses in rural Laguna Canyon, near Laguna Beach.

Tom Rogers, a co-founder of an influential slow-growth movement called Citizens for Sensible Growth, threatened to mount a recall drive against Wieder and another supervisor who favored the plan.

On Thursday, two of Wieder’s seven GOP opponents, former California State University, Long Beach, President Stephen Horn and former Reagan Administration aide Andrew Littlefair, charged that Wieder cannot say no to developers, many of whom have contributed to her political campaigns.

With Wieder present, Horn told a luncheon gathering of Republican women in San Pedro that Orange County is being “besieged by rotten planning” because county supervisors refuse to live up to their responsibility to the voters.

“Politicians who are elected have a responsibility to the people,” Horn said. “You must analyze each question and not simply be a person that automatically votes yea every time a developer contribution is given.”

As Wieder frowned, Horn endorsed a slow-growth initiative that Rogers’ group has placed on the June 7 ballot in Orange County. “We need to preserve the aesthetic aspects of Orange County,” he said.

In a clear reference to Wieder, Littlefair told the GOP women that he “won’t be afraid to stand up to the special interests.” And in a statement, he charged that “Harriett Wieder has earned the title of growth mother of Orange County.”

Promise to Get Tough

Wieder, who spoke first and did not address growth issues at the San Pedro forum, said in an interview afterward that she will get tough with her opponents.

“I’ll have to start picking on them, won’t I?” she said.

She suggested that she may launch a campaign counteroffensive against Horn, who has stepped down as president of Cal State Long Beach after 17 years.

Horn recently experienced budget problems at the university and suffered from strained relations with supporters of the campus football team.

“It’s the kettle calling the pot black,” Wieder said of Horn. “Is he inviting a Pandora’s Box to be opened? He’ll get it. . . . He’s been out baiting me since the day he filed for this seat.”

However, Wieder conceded that in light of the threatened recall drive, she is going to step up her efforts to capture the Republican congressional nomination. Wieder has been counting on a strong showing in Orange County, which has about 45% of the Republicans in the congressional district, to propel her to victory.

“I don’t take it for granted,” she said outside a Republican women’s reception Wednesday night in Huntington Beach. “I’m going to have to fight harder for it.”

Wieder, Horn, Littlefair and the other five Republican candidates are seeking to replace Rep. Daniel E. Lungren (R-Long Beach), who is giving up the seat he has held for 10 years to pursue the state treasurer’s post.

Former White House speech writer Dana Rohrabacher, the fourth well-financed candidate, said he will run a positive campaign and will not join in the attacks on Wieder.

In recent weeks, both Horn and Littlefair have charged that Wieder is out of touch with the voters in Orange County, who they said strongly favor limits on the area’s burgeoning growth.

Alarmed at the pace of development and worsening traffic congestion, the slow-growth group collected nearly 96,000 signatures to put an initiative on the June 7 ballot tying future development to construction of roads and public improvements. The group took out papers for the recall effort on Thursday.

‘Political Ploy’

In an interview on Thursday morning at Harbor College, where she and the other candidates spoke to political science students, Wieder branded the recall threat “a political ploy” and expressed confidence that voters will recognize that her vote for the development was right.

“There is a time to lead and a time to be led. And I have done both over these 10 years as a county supervisor. I see this as a time to lead,” Wieder said.

“If I don’t get elected because of my leadership, I will be able to sleep with myself because I know that what we are doing in the long-range planning process is good for the county,” she said. “It’s good for Southern California. We are innovative with those development agreements.”

Although the next 5 1/2 weeks will likely be filled with strident campaign rhetoric, Wieder said, she has “a great deal of faith in the integrity and intelligence of the voter. They will recognize the difference between a political ploy, which is how I view the recall and the integrity of decision-making.”