Voters Should Give Wieder a 4th Term : Air, Water Quality Are Among Her Top Concerns

Three of the five members of the Orange County Board of Supervisors are up for reelection June 5. In the four years ahead, more crucial decisions on development and transportation lie ahead, and the supervisors can’t wait much longer to make a decision on a jail site.

Harriett M. Wieder has four opponents in her bid for a fourth term, which could force her into a runoff. Hers is the only seriously contested race, and thus deserves the most attention. While Wieder is by no means perfect, she is superior to her competition in experience and public service and should be reelected.

Wieder, 69, had hoped to cap her political career in Congress and got an opportunity when Rep. Daniel E. Lungren (R-Long Beach) retired in 1988. Wieder, the acknowledged front-runner, ended up shooting herself in the foot: She admitted that she had lied on various resumes and in a deposition about a bachelor’s degree in journalism. She later apologized to voters, and said: “It was a mistake and I don’t think I deserve to be destroyed by this.” She was right on both scores, but disappointment in her lingers.

In her role as a member of the board, Wieder is at once highly energetic, intelligent and at times unfocused. That brings her mixed reviews in her district as well as within county government. Some say she is a lightweight, but those who know her work best rightly observe that she simply has a different working style than many other politicians, and thus is easily underestimated. When Wieder concentrates on something, she can be effective. Such is the case with the issues of air quality and water. She has been a singular voice on the board calling attention to future water shortages. She founded the Southern California Water Committee and recently said she intends to propose a county ordinance requiring developers to comply with water conservation guidelines in order to receive a building permit. The legislation would help the county achieve its goal of cutting water usage by 10%. Wieder is also the county’s representative to the South Coast Air Quality Management Board and has helped spearhead local efforts to ban oil and gas drilling off the Orange County coast.

Wieder counts as one of her most significant achievements her part in an agreement reached with developers, conservationists and local officials on the development of Bolsa Chica that will provide for restoration of large portions of the environmentally sensitive wetlands. Her district includes Huntington Beach, Seal Beach, Los Alamitos, Stanton, Cypress, parts of Garden Grove and Westminster, and the unincorporated communities of Rossmoor and Sunset Beach.

Two other board members, Thomas F. Riley and Don R. Roth, have token opposition in their reelection campaigns. They have done creditable jobs and should be retained. Roth, 67, is the former mayor of Anaheim. As current chairman of the board, he has focused attention on two of the county’s toughest problems: transportation and jail construction. Riley, 77, the dean of the board, has been criticized in his South County district for allowing too much development. But he has a long record of accomplishments, including parks acquisition and the John Wayne Airport expansion, which is nearing completion.

Riley represents Costa Mesa, Dana Point, Irvine, Laguna Beach, Newport Beach and surrounding communities. Roth represents Anaheim, Buena Park, La Palma and other parts of central Orange County.