ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Saying the Right Things

William J. Popejoy, the Board of Supervisors’ choice for interim chief executive officer of Orange County, has been saying some of the right things since his appointment was announced last Friday.

Popejoy has no government experience, but he does have an extensive business background, even including stints as a gas station attendant and a union shop steward before he took over the nation’s largest savings and loan in the 1970s and returned several years later to try unsuccessfully to stop it from going under. It was that wide business experience, despite mixed reviews of his performance, that commended him to the supervisors.

Popejoy’s promise to run a lean operation sets a favorable tone for his work. Rather than bring in a large staff from outside, he expressed confidence that the county had good workers who could help him. He is right about that. Also worth noting, if only for its symbolic value to a county in bankruptcy, was his rejection of a salary during his tenure, expected to run from six to nine months.

But perhaps his most appropriate comments came when he declared that there is a role for government and that it needs support from the welter of ethnic groups, neighborhood organizations and citizen activists that make up the county community. Popejoy called community support “the necessary ingredient” in reshaping government operations and rightly promised to campaign for such support.

For decades, county government largely has been guided by a small circle of politicians, developers and business people. The December bankruptcy awakened more residents to their stake in government, and that newfound interest should be richly encouraged.

The supervisors should also reiterate that the search for a permanent chief executive will be nationwide. Popejoy is a Newport Beach resident, but for the long term, there is plenty of talent around the country. Ensuring that the hunt for a new CEO goes well beyond Orange County’s borders can signal that the county is not relying on an “old boys network.” It must get the expertise it needs, from wherever it may come.