FULLERTON : Wedaa Faces AQMD Critics at City Hall

Henry W. Wedaa, the embattled chairman of the Air Quality Management District board, defended himself before the City Council on Tuesday after being blasted by a group of small-business owners.

Wedaa, Orange County’s representative on the board and a Yorba Linda councilman, has been facing a stiff challenge from some elected officials and business leaders who hope to unseat him. Last month Wedaa ran neck and neck with Costa Mesa Councilman Peter F. Buffa in a bid for the seat.

On Tuesday, a group of business people, led by Jim Morrissey of the Republican Small Business Assn., came before the Fullerton City Council to voice anger about the board--which regulates air pollution in the four-county Los Angeles Basin--and Wedaa’s leadership.

Morrissey said that small businesses were being forced to lay off employees, to raise the price of products and, in some cases, to leave California because of “burdensome local and state government regulations” enforced by the AQMD.

“Clean air is wanted by everyone,” Morrissey said. “But unless we use common sense, no one will be left in California to breathe it.”

After hearing nine people speak against him, Wedaa came to the podium to defend himself. “I wish some of these people who have problems would come and talk to me,” he said, drawing groans from the audience.

Wedaa said that he had tried to reach out to business people by establishing a special commission on air quality and the economy, and he said that state and federal lawmakers were responsible for creating the standards, not the AQMD.

Wedaa said he was the right man for the chairmanship. “I not only know the people, I know the problems,” he said. “I have the ability to make a difference and frankly I am making a difference.”

After hearing Wedaa’s defense, Morrissey returned to the podium. “We did not say that Mr. Wedaa does nothing,” he said. “We have said that Mr. Wedaa has done too much to small businesses.”

The City Council did not vote Tuesday on Wedaa’s appointment, but two council members--Molly McClanahan and A.B. (Buck) Catlin--said they would support him. Two others--Mayor Don Bankhead and Councilman Richard C. Ackerman--said they would vote against Wedaa.

The fifth councilman, Chris Norby, said he had not decided how to vote on the issue. He likely will cast a tie-breaking vote when the council meets next month.

Norby, who supported Wedaa last time, said he was concerned that business people were blaming Wedaa for the AQMD’s strict approach.

“Is he being used as a scapegoat or a political whipping boy for the sins of the district itself?” Norby said. Later he added: “The whole issue has been so much ‘dump on Hank, dump on Hank,’ but I really have to be convinced that somebody else can do a better job.”

Catlin urged the crowd to “aim at a different target.”

“You’re talking to the wrong audience,” he said. “You need to be telling this to our representatives from Congress and the Legislature.”

Fullerton’s vote on the appointment eventually will go to the Orange County League of Cities.

To win there, a candidate for the AQMD must win 21 of the 31 votes cast by the county’s mayors. Also, those cities must be home to two-thirds of the county’s population. If no candidate gets the required votes, Wedaa retains his post under state law.