Fullerton Official Challenges Vasquez : Politics: Councilman Chris Norby joins Assemblyman Mickey Conroy in race to unseat supervisor. He also unveils a ‘no new taxes’ recovery plan for county.

Pushing “no new taxes,” Councilman Chris Norby announced Thursday that he will challenge Orange County Board of Supervisors Chairman Gaddi H. Vasquez for his seat next year.

At his first campaign rally Thursday, Norby, 45, also unveiled an eight-point proposal he plans to make to the Board of Supervisors Monday to help to solve the financial crisis.

The plan calls for the sale of John Wayne Airport and the county’s landfills. It also proposes a 10% cut in the number of county employees and a 10% cut of all employees’ salaries. Norby said he opposes any new taxes.

In addition, Norby demanded that all participants in the collapsed county investment pool be reimbursed 100%, and he called for the appointment of John M.W. Moorlach, who ran unsuccessfully for the county treasurer’s job, to that post.

“My campaign is geared for some kind of action now because this is a crisis that can’t wait,” Norby said. “I’m in an interesting situation because I’m running to win, but I think the board needs to move quickly in terms of coming up with a plan now. They themselves have got to lead now.”

Fullerton resident Brent Hardwick, who attended the rally, said he disagrees with Norby’s “no taxes” plan.

“You simply are not going to raise enough revenue to meet the county’s current financial crisis by cutting county employees,” said Hardwick, an administrative assistant for the county’s Environmental Management Agency. “All of the taxpayers will have to chip in--not just the taxpayers who are county employees.”

But Norby, a councilman for 11 years, received a standing ovation from about 35 supporters at Steamers Cafe when he said that county officials “accepted money and trust from cities, schools and their own taxpayers. They placed it in shaky financial schemes they did not understand . . . and they have lost $1.7 billion.”

Assemblyman Mickey Conroy (R-Orange) announced last week that he also will run for Vasquez’s 3rd District seat. Vasquez said he plans to run for reelection.