ORANGE COUNTY IN BANKRUPTCY : BOND TICKER : Gates Heads 14-Member Posse on Tax

Sheriff Brad Gates and other supporters of a half-cent sales tax increase are gearing up for a tough election battle as they try to convince Orange County voters to approve Measure R on the June ballot.

With about two months left before the election, Gates and other community leaders have formed Citizens for Economic Progress--Yes on Measure R.

On Friday, Gates named 14 co-chairs of the group. They are:

William J. Popejoy, county chief executive officer; Connie Haddad, president of the League of Women Voters of Orange County; Frank Eley of the Orange County Employees Assn.; Monica Florian, president of the Building Industry Assn.; Bill Mitchell, president of Orange County Common Cause; Al Cosentino, director of the Orange County Sheriff’s Advisory Council, and Todd Nicholson, president of the Orange County Business Council.

Also named were: Norm Huffaker, of the California School Employees Assn.; John Erskine, an attorney with Nossaman, Guthner, Knox & Elliott; Daryl Carter, co-chairman of Carter Primo Chesterton; Diane Crow, executive director of the California Teachers Assn.; Reed Royalty, of the Orange County Taxpayers Assn.; Tom Malcolm, an attorney with Jones, Day, Revis & Pogue and a past president of the Orange County Bar Assn., and Jon Gilwee, vice president of the Orange County office of the Healthcare Assn. of Southern California.

Gates said he has been meeting with other organizations in an effort to boost support of the measure.

Citizens for Economic Progress will hold several planning sessions over the next few weeks in which a campaign strategy will be established, he said. The group is also seeking financial contributions.

Gates said he doesn’t yet have a fund-raising goal but acknowledged “substantial dollars” will be needed to run an effective campaign.

“We need to educate people,” Gates said. “We’re looking for the best way to do that.”

Buena Park Agency to OK Settlement

The Buena Park Redevelopment Agency is expected to ratify the county’s pool settlement agreement after U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John E. Ryan refused on Friday to consider sequestering the agency’s $10.5-million investment.

Earlier this week, the redevelopment agency rejected the settlement offer, deciding to seek the return of its money exclusively through litigation. Buena Park’s plans hinged on Ryan agreeing to secure its pool money so the funds would be available if the agency was victorious in court.

But Ryan told attorneys that he would not rule on the matter Friday because he didn’t consider the request an emergency. Ryan offered to consider the issue after he ruled on the county’s settlement agreement May 2.

Buena Park City Manager Kevin O’Rourke said it would be too risky for the agency to reject the settlement if its money isn’t sequestered.

“I can’t recommend to my employers that we put our taxpayer money into that process,” he said. “It would not be a wise thing to do.”

Instead, the redevelopment agency is expected to go with settlement Option B, which provides investors with 77% of their money in cash and allows them to sue for the remainder.

Man Who Would Be King--or Supervisor

Will B. King, the dress-donning gadfly who just can’t seem to leave county supervisors alone, says he plans to take Board of Supervisors Chairman Gaddi H. Vasquez to the ultimate test in a challenge for his office.

King--who attends almost all board hearings, often dressed in women’s garb and toting gag gifts for the county’s elected leaders--spent six hours poring over registrar of voters requirements this week and announced to county officials Friday that he will run against Vasquez next year.

While King promises to “put on his boxing gloves,” the registrar of voters office has raised some questions about his plans.

For one thing, candidates can’t take out election papers until October. King will also have to find a new place to live and re-register to vote in Vasquez’s 3rd District. King now lists a Costa Mesa address, but has vowed to “find a Fullerton street corner,” according to Bev Warner of the registrar’s office.

Compiled by Shelby Grad, with Lee Romney.