Orange County Poll : Residents Think They Wield Little Influence

Developers and business leaders are perceived as wielding the greatest influence in Orange County, while the ordinary citizen feels almost powerless to affect local decisions, The Times Orange County Poll has found.

In a clear reflection of the alienation and impotence felt by many people, the survey of 600 registered voters found that residents ranked themselves last when asked who had the most power and influence in Orange County.

Only one in 10 said ordinary citizens have a lot of influence in decisions affecting the county, and 29% said they have “none.”

In contrast, the survey found that 65% of the people questioned view developers as the most influential group in the county, followed by business leaders at 63%, county supervisors at 56%, city officials with 38% and residents, 10%.

“The perception of people and even business leaders is that the developers wield the power in Orange County,” said Mark Baldassare of Mark Baldassare & Associates, who conducted the poll. “The residents just don’t feel their voice is being heard. And this is not a partisan issue. Both Republicans and Democrats feel they are powerless. Talk about powerlessness. . . . This gives you a good profile of this county.

“It is likely that in other communities you’d find similar ranking of influence, but in Orange County, at this point, because of the feelings about traffic and growth, the gap in power between average people and developers is greater than you’d find elsewhere.”

In the last Baldassare poll for The Times Orange County Edition in February, almost 60% of those polled said that on the issue of growth, the county Board of Supervisors represents the interests of developers rather than residents. The supervisors again received low marks from the public. Only 37% gave them “excellent” or “good” marks, while 49% said they were “fair” and 14% called their performance “poor.”

While a healthy majority--69%--said the supervisors did a good job promoting Orange County to businesses, a significant 41% gave them poor marks when it came to planning for roads and development.

Baldassare said this alienation formed the seed of “the people who support the slow-growth initiative. There are a lot of people out there who don’t think they have any impact at all.”

Voter Impotence

From north Orange County to San Clemente, the poll detected a widespread feeling of voter impotence. Follow-up interviews by The Times reinforced this sentiment.

“It seems the developers are able to go in front of the supervisors to get whatever they want done,” said Cindy Dorrance, a Santa Ana housewife and slow-growth supporter. “Supervisors do whatever the developers tell them to do. The supervisors should start listening to the citizens as well as the developers.”

Jack Durban, a 30-year-old Dana Point product designer, is another who feels powerless to influence local decisions. He blames the developers for putting profit over such community concerns as traffic and preserving the environment.

“I would parallel the developers with the tobacco industry,” Durban said. “I wouldn’t ever believe what they tell you. They just aren’t credible. All they are concerned with is making money.”

“Most everyone I know has the feeling that the developers get whatever they want,” added Carolyn Martin, a 45-year-old San Clemente resident. “I am a person who deals in investments and real estate, and this is a very deep-seated attitude.”

Conflict of Interest

Most people, Martin added, believe “that there is a lot of conflict of interests going on” between developers and the county supervisors. “Everyone has their fingers in the pie,” she said.

In Laguna Beach, waitress Cristina Fernandez said she was offended by the continual quest to “build everywhere you can.”

ORANGE COUNTY POLL

Report Card for the Board of Supervisors County supervisors receive rather mediocre grades on their handling of local affairs.

Excellent Good Fair Poor Overall Leadership 4% 33% 49% 14% In Specific Areas Fostering OC as a business place 18 51 24 7 Managing the county’s budget 5 31 44 20 Providing health and human services 5 36 36 23 Representing the views of residents 3 27 41 29 Planning for roads and development 4 19 36 41

Overall Leadership Ratings in Different Groups The mediocre rating of the supervisors’ overall leadership is consistent across the board, with no outstanding pockets of support among Orange County voters.

Excellent Good Fair Poor All voters 4% 33% 49% 14% Men 5 36 42 17 Women 3 28 58 11 Age 18-34 4 37 49 10 Age 35-54 3 30 49 18 Age 55 or older 5 29 53 13 Income under $20,000 6% 21% 49% 24% Income $20,000-$39,000 4 32 54 10 Income $40,000-$60,000 4 37 47 12 Income over $60,000 4 32 46 18 Democrats 4 30 53 14 Republicans 4 35 48 13 Independents/Others 0 32 46 22

Who Has the Influence? Developers and business leaders wield most of the power in Orange County affairs, voters believe, and the ordinary citizen has almost no impact.

“When it comes to decisions affecting Orange County, how much influence does each of the following groups have?”

Amount of Influence A Lot Some A Little None Developers 65% 20% 10% 5% Business leaders 63 23 9 5 County supervisors 56 28 10 6 City officials 38 40 14 8 Residents 10 28 33 29

Residents’ Influence in the County The perception that residents are relatively powerless is fairly consistent across all demographic groups.

A Lot Some Little None All voters 10% 28% 33% 29% Likely voters 10% 27% 35% 28% Men 12 30 31 27 Women 8 25 35 32 Age 18-34 13 30 33 24 Age 35-54 7 28 31 34 Age 55 or older 9 22 37 32 Income under $20,000 6% 22% 35% 37% Income $20,000-$39,000 10 27 34 29 Income $40,000-$60,000 9 26 35 30 Income over $60,000 10 31 30 29 Democrats 8 26 34 32 Republicans 11 29 32 28 Independents/Others 9 28 35 28