MISSION VIEJO : Conference Looks at South County Issues

“A Region in Change, the Future of South Orange County” will be the topic of a series of panel discussions and special presentations today at Saddleback College.

Sir Eldon Griffiths, a member of Parliament in Great Britain and president of the World Affairs Council of Orange County, will be the keynote speaker. He is a former journalist, having served as a correspondent for Time and Life magazines and as a columnist for the Washington Post.

Three panel discussions will be presented on cultural, environmental and economic changes. The panel on cultural change will be moderated by Lee Haggerty, a Saddleback College professor of political science, and will include Municipal Judge Frances Munoz; Manuel Gomez, vice chancellor of academic affairs at UC Irvine; and Charles H. Smith, vice president of Pacific Bell’s northern region.

Monica Florian, vice president of strategic planning and policy management for the Irvine Co., will moderate the panel on environmental change. Panelists will include Larry P. Arnn, president of Claremont Institute; John V. Foley, general manager of the Moulton Niguel Water District; and Scott Ferguson of the Nature Conservancy.

The third panel, entitled “The Economic Cost of Change,” will be moderated by Reed L. Royalty, vice chairman of the Industrial League of Orange County. Panelists include James A. Fleming, superintendent of the Capistrano Unified School District; Marianne O’Malley, senior fiscal and policy analyst for the state’s Office of the Legislative Analyst; and Anthony R. Moiso, president and chief executive officer of the Santa Margarita Co.

The conference, presented by the Saddleback Community College District and the South Orange County Leadership Council, will also include a special presentation of “Use My Real Name,” a drama by the award-winning Stop-Gap theater company.

The conference will run from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. For information, call 458-0419.