Senior Supervisor : Riley to Take 4th Turn at the Helm

Supervisor Thomas F. Riley, the 76-year-old retired Marine Corps officer who is still known as “the general” to his colleagues, will be named chairman of the Board of Supervisors at its meeting today. He will succeed Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder.

It will be Riley’s fourth turn as chairman, a position that rotates among the five supervisors at the beginning of each year. Riley, first appointed to the board by then-Gov. Ronald Reagan, is the county’s senior supervisor, beginning his 15th year on the board.

The supervisor from the 5th District, which includes the county’s southern coastal cities, is known for his cheerful and optimistic demeanor. He calls his district the “fabulous 5th,” and he describes government employees as members of “the Orange County family.”

He admits that his optimism is likely to be put to the test by the rough road ahead for county government. Starting the year with a $23-million budget shortfall and the threat of hundreds of layoffs, officials consider 1989 a crucial test for Orange County.

“I think we are going to see frustration turn into goals,” Riley said last week with his trademark enthusiasm. “I think a lot of the cornerstones have been laid, and they’re ready to burst out. Orange County deserves the best because it is the best.”

Difficult Period

The issues in 1989 are all new and more complex than they were 15 years ago, Riley said. But he is happy about his opportunity to once again lead the board.

Riley recently survived one of the more difficult periods in his career as a supervisor when backers of the countywide slow-growth initiative that failed on the June ballot targeted him for recall. They said he was under the control of the county’s developers, and they particularly criticized a development he steered through the board in Laguna Canyon that is to include 3,200 homes and a shopping center.

“His commitment to major land developers in Orange County has left his 5th District unrepresented,” said Thomas C. Rogers, a leading force in the county’s slow-growth movement. “He is the architect of the destruction of the quality of life and open spaces in his district.”

Rogers, a former Republican Central Committee chairman who once ran against Riley, said he doubted whether anything will change when Riley assumes the leadership role.

“He (Riley) can’t do a lot more harm than he has already done,” Rogers said. “But I’m sure he’ll surprise me again.”

2 Special Projects

The criticisms of Riley are not new. He once told a reporter shortly after he was appointed to the board that he thinks some people are too preoccupied with environmental concerns.

But Riley also notes that he has helped make 24,000 acres of public land in the county available for open space and parks. And he boasted of the millions of dollars in private funds that he has secured for new roads in his district.

Throughout his years on the board, Riley has had two special projects that he has considered among his most important duties.

One is construction of the San Joaquin Hills Corridor, a highway that would connect California 73 to Interstate 5 near Avery Parkway. The other is the expansion of John Wayne Airport, which was named after the late actor, a Riley hero.

Riley, who was a brigadier general when he retired from the Marine Corps after 30 years, said in 1987 that if those two projects were on their way to completion by 1990, he might not seek another term.

Riley has been hospitalized in recent years with bouts of asthma, but last week he said he feels good and the decision about his next term “is still a year away.”

“If I feel as enthusiastic next year as I do now, I’ll go again,” he said.

Time staff writer George Frank contributed to this report.