Measure M Backers Believe Ueberroth Could Be the Key

He is well known, well respected and credible. And even though he has never held elective office or built a highway, Orange County leaders of a proposed half-cent transportation sales tax think Laguna Beach resident Peter Ueberroth may be just what they need.

Ueberroth, president of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee and a former commissioner of baseball, brings none of the political baggage to a campaign that most business leaders do. He is not a developer, which allows him to evade that stigma. And because he holds no elective office, voters can hardly toss him out for supporting a tax increase.

More importantly, “he’s a very, very popular person with enormous credibility,” said Dana Reed, chairman of the Orange County Transportation Commission and Measure M’s chief backer. “He’d be a tremendous asset to the campaign.”

Reed said Friday that Ueberroth has been asked to play a “very significant” role in the effort, perhaps even as campaign chairman. Ueberroth has not yet responded, Reed said, adding that even if the former Olympic chairman is too busy to serve as chairman, local leaders would still like to involve him somehow. Ueberroth was not available for comment.

Before Measure M backers can launch their push for November, they need to get past a vote by county supervisors Tuesday. The board will consider whether to put the proposal on the ballot, and though the supervisors’ have characterized that vote as merely a procedural formality, Measure M opponents are lobbying hard to knock the proposed sales tax out of contention.

Only three supervisors--Thomas F. Riley, Don R. Roth and Roger R. Stanton--plan to attend Tuesday’s session. If any one of them votes against putting the measure on the ballot, that will end the effort.

Meanwhile, Reed has commissioned a pair of Sacramento political consultants to draft a campaign strategy, which should be complete this week if the measure makes it past the board.

David Townsend, president of Townsend & Co., one of the firms that is drafting the campaign primer, said it is too early to speculate on who might lead Orange County’s effort, but agreed that it would be helpful to have someone “with a lot of credibility in the community.”

Ueberroth seems to fit that bill. He openly supported the previous version of Measure M, and a recent poll of county voters found that Ueberroth enjoys a 70% favorable rating in Orange County, with only 2% of those questioned expressing an unfavorable impression.

Only President Bush did better on the positive side, racking up a 73% favorable rating, and Bush carries an 18% unfavorable rating. Ueberroth’s numbers even edged out former football running back O.J. Simpson and actress Bette Midler, both of whom also have houses in Laguna Beach.