Now, Everything Is Up to the Voters : Legislature passes Orange County aid measures, and Wilson lends a hand

The Legislature deserves credit for putting partisan bickering aside long enough to give Orange County some tools it needs to dig its way out of bankruptcy. Gov. Pete Wilson, largely inactive in the crisis, also helped by signing the bills involved and vetoing one that would have stripped the county of fiscal control.

This legislation, although welcome, represents a minimal effort by the state; higher levels of involvement and of state and local cooperation should have developed by now in response to the fiscal collapse. Considering the potential liability that the bankruptcy poses for California’s financial position, the governor and the Legislature hardly have rolled up their sleeves. Now, it seems, everything is riding on the temporary half-cent sales tax increase that Orange County voters will decide in a June 27 election.

The newly enacted legislation is intended to help Orange County sell some assets more quickly, to make it easier to sell bonds on Wall Street again and to raise new revenue by accepting trash from other counties for a fee. The assistance was needed to help put together the pieces after the biggest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. Bad investments cost the county-run investment pool $1.69 billion, a loss that left 200 school districts and municipal agencies staring at gaping holes in their budgets. In addition, the county is under severe pressure from lenders that want to be repaid quickly.

Sacramento hearings on the assistance bills were frequently bitter, with Orange County’s conservative representatives being reminded that they had balked at helping other localities after disasters like earthquakes and floods. But in the end, reason prevailed: The Legislature recognized that Orange County’s problems affect the whole state.

Wilson vetoed a bill that would have let a state trustee run Orange County’s financial affairs. He was right; local control is best. But he did not let the county off the hook, either. If the Board of Supervisors “fails to show the necessary leadership,” Wilson said, the state will step in.

That was an appropriate reminder. Public offices have responsibilities that must be exercised in this crisis, and that includes the governor’s office (however belatedly) and the county Hall of Administration (however belatedly).