Wieder Clarifies Driver Record; County Car Policy Questioned

* I have watched with dismay as my driving record and character has been assailed by The Times’ news stories about my Nov. 30 auto accident and vehicle repairs. As I have conveyed to your staff, the Times articles about my driving record and repairs to my vehicle have left out important facts.

First, I want to clarify my driving record. I have had only one moving violation in more than a decade. With the exception of my Nov. 30 collision and an accident in which I was rear-ended, damage to my vehicle has occurred only when it was parked.

It is true that my vehicle has required repairs as a result of the damages it incurred while parked, as well as a result of the two collisions. However, The Times fails to adequately report that my vehicle has also been plagued by suspension problems that required numerous trips to the garage.

As for the Nov. 30 collision, the accident is now being investigated by the County’s Risk Management and my private insurance carrier. If it is determined that the other driver was at fault, the county will pursue recovery of the repair costs.

As a public official, I recognize that what I do and think is news, but the reporting of that news should be accurate and unbiased. I hope that this has set the record straight. If not, I may have no other alternative than to drive an armored car.

HARRIETT M. WIEDER

Chairman of the Board

County Supervisor, 2nd District

* Let’s see if I have this straight. An Orange County supervisor drives a lemon, and the county decides to replace it. They then purchase, at a cost of over $29,000, the same type car as the lemon. If I bought a car that was classified as a lemon, I would not buy the same car as that only encourages the maker.

Put down “car buyer for Orange County” on the list of jobs that I could not qualify to do. By the way, isn’t $29,000-plus a lot for a car in this day of alleged government cutbacks? Maybe it was not just the car that was a lemon.

WILLIAM V. FERRARO

Seal Beach

* As a retired regional manager for a national bank, I take issue with the level of car allowance being spent for our (county) Board of Supervisors.

The supervisors, like other elected officials, are being supported by the taxpayers. They are not the governor or the President. They are at best akin to middle-level management within a corporate environment.

In any cost-conscious corporation, middle-level management executives would have a (monthly) car allowance in the $300-to-$500 range, or, for example, an adequately equipped vehicle in the $15,000 to $18,000 range. This would allow for, say, most Fords or Chevrolets.

The idea that I should support this level of government with an $823-per-month car allowance or a $29,000 Chrysler Imperial is unconscionable. And, if Ms. Wieder has had 10 body repair jobs since 1989, I suggest she is “accident prone” and should not be driving a car! It is obvious to me that our supervisors “just don’t get it!” They are feeding at the public trough with a convoluted idea of what prudent expense control means.

How many other areas of their purview are available for cost reductions where services such as longer library hours and increased crime prevention could be beneficiaries?

BOB REED

Santa Ana

* Regarding the county buying Supervisor Harriett Wieder a $29,000 Chrysler: Are they nuts? This lady should go to rent-a-wreck. Besides, I thought she was retiring.

BOB HARDMAN

Orange