Wieder Puts Herself and 2 Colleagues on Growth Study Panel

In a move that a major slow-growth activist said would “emasculate” a citizens panel appointed to draft a new growth control plan for the county, Board of Supervisors Chairman Harriett M. Wieder announced Friday that she and two other supervisors will join the panel.

The ad hoc Advisory Committee on Public Facilities was appointed by the board in March to write a backup, or “safety net,” growth control plan that would take effect if the Citizens’ Sensible Growth and Traffic Control Initiative--Measure A on Tuesday’s ballot--was defeated at the polls or in court.

On Wednesday, the day after Orange County voters decided by a 55.6% to 44.4% margin to defeat the initiative, the 11-member citizens committee came close to finishing its recommendations on overall growth policy. Wieder said Friday that because the committee also intends to draft a separate document containing specific procedures for implementing its proposed growth controls, she and supervisors Gaddi H. Vasquez and Thomas F. Riley need to join the panel.

Wieder to Be Chairman

Wieder said she will take over as chairman of the committee on June 21, the same day the committee’s work to date will be before the board for the first time.

“I’m augmenting this committee with members of the board because we are going into phase two, the implementation phase,” Wieder said. “Our integrity has to be demonstrated, and the only way we can is to become members of the committee.”

Slow-growth activist Tom Rogers, chairman of the group that drafted Measure A and perhaps its most well-known proponent, described Wieder’s actions as an attempt to “emasculate the committee’s work and frustrate the wishes of the people in the county.”

Wieder said the integrity issue involves the board’s commitment to have a safety-net growth management plan that is consistent with the goals of Measure A.

She acknowledged that the committee has drafted a plan that is similar to Measure A but insisted that supervisors need to participate in working out the details of how it will be implemented.

Previously, panel members had scheduled a study session with the Planning Commission for later this month--before the commission’s first public hearing on the committee’s plan.

Rogers said Wieder was trying to take charge either to water down the committee’s plan or to take credit for its work in order to sidestep the recall campaign that slow-growth activists are waging against her and Riley.

Wieder denied this and said that “the board must take the initiative and exercise leadership in order to restore public confidence.”

Until now, Rogers said, the committee seemed to be “headed in the right direction.”

The panel--whose members include slow-growth activists Norm Grossman and Sherry Meddick as well as representatives of homeowner groups, the building industry and business--has adopted traffic standards similar to those that were in Measure A.

The committee has also proposed creation of separate planning areas throughout the county. Each planning area would be monitored closely to ensure compliance with growth management regulations.

Committee members have also agreed that money will be needed to finance improvements in roads and other public facilities but have not reached a consensus about whether a sales tax increase or other revenue-raising measures should be specifically included in the growth management plan.

Nestande, Wieder Chat

A former supervisor, Bruce Nestande, who now chairs the committee, said he discussed involvement by the Board of Supervisors in the committee’s work in a meeting with Wieder on Friday.

“We chatted this afternoon (Friday) and talked about the board becoming involved with the committee,” Nestande said. “And at a certain point, I said, ‘It would be very important for the board to maintain the independence of the committee.’ ”

Nestande, who is now vice president of the Costa Mesa-based Arnel Development Co., said he also told Wieder that “the committee is not finished with its work and that she should let the committee go forward. . . .

“She indicated to me that we would talk about it some more, and I wasn’t sure she had actually made up her mind.”

Nestande said he would continue to serve on the committee after Wieder takes over as chairman on June 21. He added that he wants to ensure that involvement by the Board of Supervisors in the committee’s process will not compromise the independence of the county Planning Commission, which is supposed to review the committee’s growth management plan.

Other committee members could not be reached for comment Friday.