2 Mayors Pitch Wedaa Deal : Politics: County Air Quality Management Board member says he would agree to compromise that allows him to finish term if he consents to strict conditions.

Saying the debate over Orange County’s representative to the South Coast Air Quality Management District “has lingered too long,” two mayors on Monday sent letters to every counterpart in the county proposing to let him remain in the job until November--if he agrees to strict conditions.

Anaheim Mayor Tom Daly and Santa Ana Mayor Daniel H. Young, who “have been consistent critics” of Henry W. Wedaa as anti-business and for his stances on protecting air quality, offered a compromise Monday between “sacking” him later this week or reelecting him.

Wedaa represents Orange County cities on the AQMD board of directors. He has announced that he will not seek reelection to the Yorba Linda City Council in November, which means he will automatically leave the AQMD when his council term ends.

But last month, Wedaa failed to win enough votes from the county’s mayors to retain his seat on the AQMD board until then. In the complex voting system, the 15 of 29 votes Wedaa received was well short of the required two-thirds majority of cities, which also must represent two-thirds of the county’s population.

Another meeting of the Orange County League of Cities is scheduled for Thursday. Under a new state law, if the mayors cannot agree to retain Wedaa or agree on a replacement by March 1, the county will not have a member on the AQMD board.

The “halfway position” proposed by the two mayors would require Wedaa to promise to honor his commitment not to run for reelection to the council. It also would require that he provide his undated resignation from the AQMD to the chairman of a new, seven-member Air Quality Steering Committee of Orange County city council members. Wedaa would be obligated to accept as “binding” consensus positions of the steering committee.

While the actual membership of the proposed steering committee would be left to the League of Cities Steering Committee, the two mayors suggest as members “dedicated individuals like Bill Mahoney of La Habra, John Cox of Newport Beach, and Paula Werner of Irvine,” with Mahoney acting as interim chair until the appointments are made and holding Wedaa’s resignation.

Wedaa, who has served on the AQMD for six years, confirmed that he agreed with the compromise, saying the final details were worked out Monday.

“I don’t see anything wrong with the deal,” he said. “It’s good for all of us. We get a lot people involved in air quality issues. I’m a strong supporter of having this air quality steering committee, for example.”

The two mayors wrote that the deal includes a “commitment that he will lead an effort to untangle the complex and confusing relationship between the AQMD, the Southern California Assn. of Governments, and county transportation agencies.”

“With Hank Wedaa’s agreement to these conditions--and he has told us he can accept these conditions--Anaheim and Santa Ana will change our votes and support Henry Wedaa for the South Coast Air Quality Management District Board of Directors at the League of Cities meeting on” Thursday, Daley and Young wrote the other mayors. “To preserve harmony in the league and to put this issue to rest, we urge you to join us.”

Laguna Beach Mayor Ann Christoph, who backed Wedaa in earlier votes, said that the compromise “will interfere with his independence to some degree, but if he’s agreed to do it, that’s his prerogative. It’s good to have him continue as chairman. Something had to give to relieve the impasse.”

One of the AQMD’s rulings that has been extremely unpopular requires companies in Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties with more than 100 workers to set up programs encouraging employees to car pool, take mass transit or use other means to get to work.

The 6-year-old rule has been criticized for making thousands of businesses spend large amounts of money to design elaborate ride-sharing plans. Collectively, employers in the four-county area spend about $160 million a year on these plans, according to a recent study done for the AQMD.

Last month, the AQMD formed a task force to explore new ways to remove single commuters from the region’s roads. Wedaa said that the task force would look for less costly and coercive methods to get commuters to leave their cars at home.

As “consistent critics of Hank Wedaa” who have “advocated his removal,” the two mayors wrote, “we are skeptical of his recent pro-city and pro-business positions, which we believe are at odds with his performance over the past few years. But, in recent times, Hank has really worked to mend fences.

“We are concerned that if he is simply appointed, the pro-city/pro-business Hank will disappear and the anti-city/anti-business Hank will return. If the pressure of immediate removal from his post as chairman is taken away, we fear Hank will slip back into his old ways. So, before we can agree to support Hank, we need assurances he will remain on the straight and narrow.

“We also believe that there is value in healing old wounds and ending a conflict that has divided the League of Cities for months. This debate over Hank Wedaa and AQMD has lingered too long. It should end with a well-reasoned compromise.”

Because “the ink is barely dry” on the letters, Mayor Young said in an interview that “we have not gotten any feedback that I’m aware of.”

However, given the large populations of Anaheim and Santa Ana, Young said he felt this agreement would push Wedaa “over the top” in Thursday’s voting.