O.C. IN BANKRUPTCY: THE MEASURE R ELECTION : Voters’ Rage Directed at Leaders as Well as Tax

Shirley Hintzman is infuriated with the way Orange County’s elected leaders have handled her hard-earned tax money. On Tuesday, she finally had the chance to vent her rage.

“I am an angry voter, and all I have is my vote to send them,” said Hintzman, 70, who voted No on Measure R at the Dana Niguel Library. “I don’t trust the county. . . . We clearly have an inefficient form of government, and I’m not going to support it.”

Throughout Orange County, voters expressed their wrath toward county government and higher taxes in the most powerful way they could: By rejecting the proposal to raise the sales tax from 7.75% to 8.25%.

“I think they’re crazy for thinking they were going to put this tax over on us,” said Rich Sopha, 43, a hotel employee from Dana Point. “They haven’t done anything substantial to get themselves out of this. And now they’re looking for a quick fix. It’s an insult.”

Voters who rejected Measure R did so for a variety of reasons. Some simply did not want a tax hike and were convinced there are alternative solutions to the county’s financial mess. Others, however, were clearly outraged and wanted their ballots to translate into a vote of “no confidence” in the status quo.

“I simply don’t believe them when they say we’ll suffer as much as they claim,” said Linda Rowberg of Anaheim, who also voted No on Measure R. “They threaten the schools will fall apart . . . that crime will go up. They need to learn we’re not going to just keep rolling over when they threaten us.”

Like many Orange County voters, Pat Earley of Irvine snubbed Measure R out of disgust for the Board of Supervisors’ handling of the bankruptcy. The 68-year-old retired professional ice skater said she would have voted differently if county supervisors had acknowledged they had mishandled taxpayers’ money and resigned.

“But they say, ‘Just give us more money and we’ll take care of it,’ and then it doesn’t get taken care of,” she said. “The supervisors are responsible, but they didn’t take the responsibility they should have taken.”

Fellow Irvine residents Daniel and Edwina Ryan, both 25, also voted No to show their contempt. They believe voting for Measure R might have given the supervisors the wrong impression, that the public is letting them off the hook.

“We’ve got the same characters still in charge. It’s ridiculous,” Edwina Ryan said. “Get rid of them, then come back and talk to me.”

The sheer distrust and anger voters felt for county leaders might have doomed Measure R from the start, political analysts have said. Even before the election, a Times Orange County poll conducted in early June found residents expressing scorn for county government, particularly the Board of Supervisors.

More than half of those polled said county leaders waste “a lot” of tax money and “pay very little or no attention” to what their constituents think.

About half the poll’s respondents also said they believe the supervisors have done a “poor” job of managing the crisis. Another 33% said the supervisors’ performance has been “only fair.”

Norm Loats of Newport Beach, a former assistant superintendent of the Newport-Mesa School District who voted for the tax hike, said he understands the rage that people feel toward county government. But he worries that their anger will backfire.

“They are taking it out on the wrong people, because it is the kids and the schools who will suffer,” he said.

Irvine middle school teacher Laura Robinson said she is also more concerned about solving the county’s financial problems than punishing county leaders.

“As a taxpayer and someone who voted for the supervisors, I have to take some responsibility for it,” she said.

But many voters, such as Walt Shellenbarger of Santa Ana, don’t believe they should bear any of the blame.

“These politicians have only one answer for everything: Money,” said Shellenbarger, a retired businessman. “[My wife and I] live within our budget. It’s time they do too.”

Times correspondents Jeff Bean, Hope Hamashige, Jeff Kass, Russ Loar, Frank Messina, John Pope and Deborah Sullivan contributed to this report.