Yorba Linda Peers Forsake Air Panelist : Pollution: City Council votes to support Costa Mesa’s Peter Buffa for AQMD board rather than its own Henry Wedaa.

Later this month, city leaders in the county will consider reappointing Yorba Linda Councilman Henry W. Wedaa as their representative to the South Coast Air Quality Management District, but he will not be getting a vote from his hometown.

Yorba Linda City Council members narrowly voted Tuesday to support Costa Mesa Councilman Peter F. Buffa, who will challenge Wedaa for the influential AQMD post when the Orange County League of Cities convenes Jan. 24. Fullerton Mayor Don Bankhead is also running for the spot.

Those voting with the majority in Yorba Linda’s 3-2 council vote said ousting Wedaa will send a message that theyare unhappy with AQMD’s board, whose stringent enforcement of air standards has prompted businesses to flee the state, critics say.

“It seems like the AQMD is concerned with two things, not only cleaning up all the bad air but all the jobs,” said Yorba Linda Councilman Gene Wisner, who voted to back Buffa, along with Councilmen John M. Gullixson and Mark Schwing.

“A guy with six or seven employees and no political contacts just gets a note in the mail that says, ‘Comply or close down,’ ” Gullixson said after the meeting.

Wedaa argued that his colleagues’ views are naive, given the state of the economy, and noted that the board is required to carry out state and federal regulations.

“There are at least a dozen reasons why jobs are being lost,” said Wedaa, who has been on the AQMD board for five years. “. . . What role the AQMD plays (in businesses leaving the state), no one knows, not even me. It’s a handy whipping boy.”

On Wednesday, Buffa predicted that the Yorba Linda council’s decision will help in garnering support from other cities. But to be elected a representative to the board, Buffa must first get 22 of the county’s 31 cities to vote for him at the League of Cities meeting, and those 22 votes in turn must represent two-thirds of the total population of the county’s incorporated cities.

Wedaa said he is confident that he will be reappointed to the four-year spot.

“I believe I will achieve enough votes to win,” Wedaa said after the meeting. “I’m not worried.”

Wedaa, who was elected chairman of the 12-member AQMD board last month, recently won approval of his proposal to create a 37-member panel to investigate the local impact of the district’s rules.

“Obviously, all are not satisfied with what the AQMD is doing,” Wedaa said. “Neither am I. . . . If these actions are not taken by the AQMD board, the federal government ultimately enters the picture and issues sanctions against the air basin.”

Mayor Irwin M. Fried--who will represent Yorba Linda at the League of Cities meeting and will cast the vote on the AQMD seat--ironically was Wedaa’s sole supporter on the council in Tuesday’s vote. He argued that Wedaa should not be held responsible for the entire air quality board but added that he will vote as the council directs him.

The council’s decision to vote for Buffa “will have the effect of washing Yorba Linda’s linen in public,” Fried said. “People will laugh and snicker at Yorba Linda. (They’ll say) ‘They’re not even voting for their own man.’ ”

Gullixson said that while he has “nothing personal” against Wedaa, the council needed to do something to get a “conservative voice” on the air board. Wedaa is regarded as a moderate on air-quality issues.

“We’re totally impotent when it comes to that organization,” Gullixson said. “We’ve got to send the message. We’ve got to send the first punch. Unfortunately for Yorba Linda, Hank Wedaa ends up being the first wounded.”