Measure M Lottery Winners to Oversee Billions : Transportation: The names of eight panelists on Citizens Oversight Committee are picked from fishbowls. The eastern part of the county will have only one representative.

Eight people with backgrounds ranging from police work to computer sales and aerospace were selected by lottery Thursday to serve on a panel that will oversee spending of Measure M tax funds.

“This is a great opportunity to provide oversight control of how Proposition M money is spent,” said Donald R. Lawrenz Jr., a Newport Beach pension fund administrator whose name was one of those drawn during an Orange County Transportation Commission meeting.

“I don’t like traffic, and I wanted to see meaningful improvements that help all Orange County residents,” he said.

Under Measure M, approved by voters last week, the Citizens Oversight Committee has the power to block any proposed changes in a 20-year, $3.1-billion spending plan.

The watchdog panel also has the authority to hold public hearings, hire its own consultants and demand written explanations from transportation officials of any perceived deviations from Measure M. Committee members must also certify that the county or cities seeking the sales tax proceeds meet eligibility requirements, which include adoption of growth controls.

Rules required that each of the five supervisorial districts have at least one representative on the committee, and no more than two.

More than 300 people applied for the positions, and the Grand Jurors Assn. of Orange County, a group of former grand jury members, screened the applicants to 24.

Before Thursday’s drawing, names of the 24 candidates were sorted into bowls, according to home districts. A sixth bowl contained the numbers of the districts to determine which ones would have more than a single representative.

The 3rd Supervisorial District, which covers the eastern portion of the county, from Yorba Linda to Mission Viejo, has only one representative on the committee. One panelist was selected from the 5th District in South County, but County Auditor-Controller Steve Lewis, who will chair the committee, lives in the district. The other three districts all have two representatives.

“We’re going to have to get together in the next several weeks to see when we want to hold regular meetings,” said Lewis, the committee’s chairman. “We’ll be in touch with everyone to see what their schedules permit. I’m really excited because I think this can be a really challenging, dynamic thing to protect the public’s interest here.”

Lorenz, executive vice president of Newport Beach-based Pension Administrators Inc., was selected for a three-year term on the watchdog panel.

Also receiving three-year terms were Lloyd Chandler of Orange, district manager for Southern California Edison, and Trent Harris of Huntington Beach, a field supervisor for the Newport Beach Police Department.

Picked for two-year terms were: Peter Horton of Huntington Beach, a consultant and a former McDonnell Douglas employee who served on a city traffic panel; Leo Komonchak Jr. of Lake Forest, a Mitsubishi Electric sales manager; and John E. Stevens of Garden Grove, who served as Santa Ana’s director of public works from 1970-1980.

Selected for one-year terms were Gwendolyn McClellan of Orange, a Digital Equipment Corp. computer sales representative who manages the firm’s ride-sharing program, and Kirk Watilo of Santa Ana, a member of a citizens’ advisory committee that drew up the county’s $20-billion transportation improvement plan.

In other business, Deloitte Touche, a national consulting firm, told OCTC members Thursday that they could save up to $1.5 million in inflation-related costs if the commission started construction immediately on several projects by borrowing $80 million against future Measure M revenue.

Commission members reacted positively, but a decision won’t be made until next month. Projects that could begin immediately include car-pool lanes on the Orange Freeway, final design work on the El Toro Y remodeling, and purchase of land for the Santa Ana Freeway widening.

Also, commission members previewed six options for expanded rail service. They ranged from a $1-billion plan for a limited rail network to a $9-billion proposal for a deluxe, countywide system larger than anything outside New York City.

Consultants, who said the public favors “sexy, high-tech, Disneyland-style technology,” are expected to recommend a mid-size rail service network sometime in the next two months.