Supervisor Riley Says He Will Seek a 5th Term

Thomas F. Riley, the senior member of the Board of Supervisors who was appointed to his seat in 1974 by Gov. Ronald Reagan, announced Thursday that he will seek a fifth term next year.

The 77-year-old chairman of the board, who has been hospitalized in recent years with asthma-related illnesses, said he has had a thorough doctor’s examination that cleared the way for him to seek another four-year term.

“Orange County is not getting any older, it’s getting better; I feel the same way,” Riley said in a news conference at his Santa Ana office, flanked by a bust of his late friend and hero, John Wayne.

“Over these last few months I have given this a great deal of thought . . . and a great deal of prayer,” Riley said. “The answer that keeps coming back to me is a resounding, ‘Yes General, go for it all the way.’ ”

Riley, a Republican and retired Marine Corps brigadier general who is still known to many by his nickname, “the General,” represents the county’s 5th Supervisorial District stretching along the county’s southern coast from Costa Mesa to San Clemente.

He is the last of three supervisors whose terms end next year to announce a bid for reelection. Supervisors Don R. Roth of Anaheim and Harriett M. Wieder of Huntington Beach are also running for reelection next June.

The news of Riley’s reelection plans spread through Orange County political circles last week when he floated the idea to community and business leaders. Riley said the groups endorsed his reelection, leading him to make his announcement Thursday.

But the decision surprised some who thought he might retire after 15 years in office. The delay in making his announcement had prompted at least five prospective candidates to speculate about their interest in the seat, including attorney Dana Reed, who already has raised $60,000 for a possible race.

Riley said he telephoned all five prospective candidates before his announcement Thursday and was assured by four that they would endorse his candidacy and drop their interest.

“I’m going to support him and I’m going to do everything I can to see that he is reelected,” said Reed, who sits on the Orange County Transportation Commission with Riley. “When I formed my (campaign) committee, it was on the basis that I thought he might want to retire; so I have basically shut down my committee.”

Reed said he has told his contributors he will return their money when Riley files his papers for reelection next February.

Peter Swan, an Irvine businessman who serves on the Orange County Sanitation Districts, is the one prospective candidate who told Riley he may still run for the seat.

“I’m very interested in the job,” Swan said Thursday. “I believe it’s time for a change. I think Tom has done a good job in the past, but it’s time for some new approaches in running the county.”

In his announcement, Riley highlighted some of his accomplishments in office. He said the new terminal at John Wayne Airport--a name he proposed to the board--and the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor have been his two most important projects in office.

He also dedicated his next term to improving traffic and tempering development with more parks and open space--the two hottest issues in southern Orange County.

In addition to his age and health, Riley’s obstacles in seeking reelection could include opposition from environmentalists who have been unhappy with his strong support for the county’s major development companies and their projects.

Riley says he has required developers to pay for new roads and infrastructure improvements in return for his approval of their projects. But there is an emotional and organized opposition to his vision of growth along the county’s southern coast.

His name has been spray-painted with disparaging comments on county signs in the area. And after a series of votes last spring on some controversial projects proposed for some of the county’s most beautiful coastline, organizers of the last year’s slow-growth initiative announced an attempted recall of Riley.

The attempt was dropped when they did not gather enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.

Swan said the issue of development would be one of the cornerstones of his campaign, if he runs. Paraphrasing a Ronald Reagan campaign line, he said, “Are the roads better than they were when you came to Orange County?”