ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Voting Blind

The Board of Supervisors’ practice of giving “district prerogative” to one of their number on issues within his or her district ought to be changed. The public isn’t served when the board automatically defers to the wishes of a supervisor.

A case in point came earlier this year. The board apparently thought it was making the sensible decision to turn down a church’s request for a day-care center permit. The center would have been in the flight path of jets at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station.

Citing safety and noise concerns, the board wanted to heed the counsel of the Marines, who pointed out that the center was within an “Accident Potential Zone” two miles south of the base, an area where four planes have crashed.

But the board’s deference to Supervisor Thomas F. Riley in light of these legitimate safety concerns turned embarrassing because of its carelessness. What the board in fact did was to deny a Marine Corps appeal of a Planning Commission decision approving the day-care project. It took another vote a week later to undo the confusion.

The culprit was the practice of granting “district prerogative.” Riley, apparently thinking his initial resolution sided with the Marines, misstated his motion, and the rest of the board unanimously went along.

A clerk later had to sort out the record and schedule the corrected vote. All was well that ended well. But the supervisors should be certain what they are voting on, even in somebody else’s bailiwick.