Countywide : Candidates’ Views of Issues Taped for Show

Four of the five candidates for the 2nd District seat on the Board of Supervisors fielded questions Thursday in Costa Mesa at a videotaping that will be shown next month on cable television.

The candidates who attended are:

* Raymond T. Littrell, 59, a member of the Midway City Sanitation Board and former Garden Grove City Council member. He lives in Garden Grove.

* Linda Moulton-Patterson, 50, mayor of Huntington Beach, member of the California Coastal Commission and former board member of the Huntington Beach Union High School District.

* Jim Silva, 50, a member of the Huntington Beach City Council and a high school teacher.

* Haydee V. Tillotson, 55, a Huntington Beach property manager and former member of the Orange County Planning Commission.

Candidate John A. Thomas, 54, a former Huntington Beach council member, did not attend the forum.

Harriett M. Wieder, who has been a supervisor for 16 years, is not a candidate in the June 7 election. Her district includes Costa Mesa, Cypress, Huntington Beach, Los Alamitos, Seal Beach and Stanton, and parts of Garden Grove and Santa Ana.

The videotaping was moderated by Charles Wilson, a public affairs manager for Southern California Edison. He asked the candidates to give their views on crime, jail sites, business issues, traffic problems and uses of El Toro Marine Corps Air Station after the military gives up the base.

Wilson also asked about mass transportation, air pollution and low-income housing, and asked the candidates what strengths they believe they would bring to the board.

Littrell said every supervisorial district should have jails. He opposes toll roads and is critical of the Air Quality Management District, saying it has hurt business. He said he would like to see redevelopment money used for low-income housing. “This country is too great for us to let people sleep on the streets,” he said.

Moulton-Patterson said her top priority is fighting crime. “That’s what people are telling me, that they want to be safe in their neighborhoods.” She said that jails should be in remote areas and that she would like to place low-income housing in commercial rather than residential areas.

Silva said he is very concerned about crime. He wants to expand the current jails rather than build new ones. Another top priority is to help business: “We have to look at ways of balancing budgets without putting an unfair burden on businesses.” He also said the AQMD has hurt businesses.

Tillotson said she will work to help businesses, and wants to bring a business mentality to government. She prefers to expand existing jails to meet the overcrowding problem. She also said she will work to improve safety. She supports the construction of single-room-occupancy dwellings for low-income residents, provided they are well-run.

The hourlong question-and-answer session will run on Mondays at 6 p.m. and Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. during May. The show will run on Copley-Colony Cablevision Channel 3, which airs in Costa Mesa.