ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Consolidation Barriers Fall

One more obstacle to the consolidation of Orange County’s two transportation agencies was removed last week when the Legislature approved a bill by state Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach) to work out a specific plan during the next year for the merger. The bill should be signed by Gov. George Deukmejian.

The proposed consolidation has gone through the political wringer. But state and local representatives can be commended for working out their differences to smooth the way for Bergeson’s legislation. Hopes are high that the prospect of a merger will help passage in November of Proposition M, which would impose a half-cent transportation sales tax. To date, Orange County--despite its serious traffic congestion problems--is the only urban county without such a tax.

Once in place, the merger should clarify responsibilities for planning and administration at a time when traffic management ranks as a primary concern for Orange County residents.

According to an agreement ironed out between Bergeson and local county supervisors and city council members, the Orange County Transportation Commission, a planning body, and the Orange County Transit District, which runs the county’s bus system, will become one 11-member commission. Six of the commission’s seats will be allocated to local city councils and four to the Board of Supervisors. One will be an at-large public member.

Getting the Board of Supervisors--which is afraid of losing power over transportation decisions--to agree to that representation was the biggest feat for supporters of consolidation. To their credit, supervisors finally worked out a compromise that leaves them in a minority on the new commission.

That puts city councils in the driver’s seat--a responsibility that will require them to look at the “big picture” in transportation instead of caring only for their own fiefdoms. This will be a greater challenge than the merger--one we hope they’ll meet.