It’s Time to Stop the Witch Hunts : * State Sen. John Lewis Needs to Work on County’s Behalf, Not on His Personal Battles

State Sen. John R. Lewis (R-Orange) appears to enjoy witch hunts more than the real work of a legislator: introducing bills, lobbying for their passage, getting them signed into law. Lewis’ latest target is a real humdinger, the mother of a man who had the effrontery to run against him in the 1992 Republican primary.

Lewis trounced his opponent, Newport Beach attorney Todd Thakar. Yet the legislator was unhappy with what he took to be personal attacks, and he is getting his revenge now. But it isn’t Thakar who is his target, but Thakar’s mother.

Gov. Pete Wilson appointed Rosemary E. Thakar to the California State University Board of Trustees. She has twice been the unsuccessful Republican nominee for Congress from a Northern California district; she is a businesswoman; for 10 years she has been on the president’s advisory board at San Francisco State University. Her nomination, which requires Senate approval, cleared a Senate committee with nary a dissenting vote.

Yet Lewis has been working behind the scenes to block the appointment. A Lewis aide acknowledged that politics might be a factor, but said Lewis’ real concern was ideological, that Rosemary Thakar is insufficiently conservative. The aide also claimed Thakar had “no special expertise” to bring to the post. Nonsense.

Last year, Lewis took out after Henry R. Wedaa, a Yorba Linda city councilman whom Lewis wants removed as chairman of the South Coast Air Quality Management District. Wedaa has been a target of conservatives who wrongly claim he is anti-business. Lewis managed to win passage of a bill making it easier to remove Wedaa from his post.

Several years ago, while Lewis was still in the Assembly, a fellow Orange County Republican assemblyman said the reason he and Lewis introduced so few bills was their belief they were sent to Sacramento to decrease the size and influence of government. But Orange County needs more vigorous representation in Sacramento, not less. The ineffectiveness of the county’s legislative delegation has been a sore spot with county officials who complain they get less than other counties.

Orange County would be better off if Lewis would work on its behalf, rather than devoting himself to personal battles.