ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Come Clean--and Quickly

Supervisor Don R. Roth has some explaining to do. In recent days, he has sidestepped questions raised about his failure to report a loan and gifts from an influential Orange County family, the Doughers. Now it’s time for Roth to fully address the discrepancies between his statements and the record.

The Dougher family allowed Roth to defer $8,500 in payments--essentially giving him an interest-free loan--on a residence in an Anaheim trailer park that he rented after he and his wife separated in 1990. The Doughers also paid for three ferry trips to Catalina. Neither the loan nor the trips were reported as required by law.

Initially, Roth defended his behavior by saying the Doughers were longtime friends who, in any case, did not have business before the Board of Supervisors. However, that turned out to be not so. Transcripts of a Dec. 10 board meeting showed that Gerald Dougher was present when the board was asked to approve the sale of Dougher-owned land for a condominium development. The Midway City project initially had been turned down by the county Planning Commission, but the Board of Supervisors unanimously overturned that decision. Moreover, Roth’s appointee to the Planning Commission, Chuck McBurney, says the supervisor called him about the project after the commission’s vote.

How does Roth account for the disparities? That’s a question that interests both constituents and the FBI, which says it is investigating whether Roth accepted gifts in return for political favors.

Roth also needs to reassess his practice of accepting numerous lunches and dinners from county lobbyists. Though this isn’t illegal as long as the meals are reported, frequent dining with those who want favorable treatment from the county creates the impression of a relationship that many constituents would consider unacceptable. In 1991, Roth accepted more meals and gifts than any other supervisor--79 meals, plus fruit baskets, golf outings and many tickets to sporting and other events. What’s more, the values that Roth placed on those meals and gifts in many instances do not appear to be actual costs. For example, breakfasts, lunches and dinners seem to have been arbitrarily valued at $10, $20 and $30, respectively. Obviously this could not be so.

Supervisor Roth needs to do some straight talking--soon.