My Measure R Vote Was Swayed by the Big C--Credibility

When the Orange County polls close Tuesday evening, I’ll be 2,000 miles away, perhaps watching the final inning of a Pirates-Cubs game in Wrigley Field in Chicago. I’m picturing a balmy Chicago evening, wind blowing out to left, shirt-sleeved crowd, maybe 30,000 fans at the game.

It’s safe to say none will be discussing Measure R. Nor will the election results be posted on the Wrigley scoreboard. This gets me thinking maybe the issue isn’t of earth-shaking importance after all. It reminds me of the football coach who, while being grilled by the local media after a loss of alleged monstrous proportion, replied that, “One billion Chinese don’t give a damn whether we won or lost.” Perspective, perspective.

I made the short drive earlier this week to get my absentee ballot and vote for Measure R. It was surprisingly easy and painless. Didn’t even wince. Mind you, I wasn’t doing cartwheels in the parking lot afterward, but neither was there much anguish.

A No vote would have been easy too. Thinking about Measure R before voting, it occurred to me that I have less reason to vote for it than many others. I don’t have longstanding ties to Orange County, don’t have kids in school, don’t know how long I’ll be living here and, in general, don’t feel that much connection with county government. Plus, I’m a cheapskate and, beyond that, I have a perverse curiosity to see what will happen if it fails.

And yet, my Yes vote came effortlessly.

Like most voters, I think, the financial nuances of the bankruptcy elude me. For that reason, my Yes vote wasn’t one of overriding conviction that all will be well because the sales tax is increased. And yet, I’ve heard nothing from the No side that convinces me that it has a clear vision, either.

In the end, it comes down to credibility. I scanned the landscape and decided to cast my lot with the folks I believed in. I played the role of the foreign tourist looking for someone to lead me through this strange land of municipal bankruptcy.

From what I’ve seen, County CEO William J. Popejoy has the credibility. I’m convinced he came into the fray as neutrally as anyone, with no obvious bent toward maintaining the status quo, and certainly no predisposition to go down in local history as the engineer behind a sales-tax increase.

The analysis by him and his staff is that the half-cent tax is the quickest and, ultimately, cheapest way to get Orange County to quit talking about bankruptcy. Popejoy recommended significant cuts in the county’s discretionary spending and, simultaneously, a sales-tax increase. It’s hard to see how the coupling of those two actions--which antagonize people all along the political spectrum--leaves his motives open to much question.

As for the credibility of the anti-tax forces, well, let’s just say I remain unconvinced. Some of them think government is too big, but they’re talking in abstractions. They can’t give us a figure on what would be the correct number of government employees we need. They just have a philosophical belief or gut feeling that whatever we have, it’s too many. They’re entitled to that view, but it doesn’t address the matter at hand.

If you listen to their arguments long enough, you get a sense of their dislike of and detachment from county government. My hunch is that they see county government taking care of people who can’t take care of themselves, and they wonder why they should pony up for that. In that sense, it seems to be nothing more than a reflection of what’s happening on the state and national level.

Because of that detachment, they seem to feel no pressing need for the county to square accounts. Tell them that Wall Street will punish Orange County severely, and their reaction is a “so what?”

They don’t seem to have a stake in county government, so why should they worry about its debt?

I don’t connect the dots between Robert L. Citron mishandling the investment pool and a blanket indictment of county government and its functions. That’s a little too convenient.

If we want to argue whether county government serves any purpose, let’s do it honestly. Let’s not sabotage local government and call it a cure for bankruptcy.

Let’s call it what it is: a cop-out. All I know is that when I voted Yes, my prevailing sentiment wasn’t anger. It was just a hope that this piddling half-cent might finally put this problem in the background instead of letting it continue to dominate local life.

Am I sure I cast the right vote? No.

I just want this thing to end, and if scraping up an extra quarter out of my pocket for every $50 I spend will do it, then it was a vote well cast.

Dana Parsons’ column appears Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Readers may reach Parsons by writing to him at The Times Orange County Edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626, or calling (714) 966-7821.