ORANGE COUNTY VOICES : COMMENTARY ON THE O.C. BANKRUPTCY : Supervisors Deserve Public Support in Efforts to Resolve Crisis : They, in turn, owe it to those who elected them to transcend the politics of survival and exhibit true leadership.

Orange County’s bankruptcy now eclipses a Shakespearean tragedy in number of plot changes and high drama. The Board of Supervisors’ assertion of authority, William J. Popejoy’s resignation and Jan Mittermeier’s ascension to acting CEO creates yet a new act in this multistage saga. The question is whether the board, by casting itself in the lead role, will receive public accolade or scorn.

Popejoy’s departure creates a leadership vacuum, which requires more than merely substituting a new name at the top of the county’s organization chart. A majority of the board claims it wants to fill the vacuum, with the capable assistance of Mittermeier. This is a dramatic shift from the board’s previous role.

The supervisors have been most skilled during this crisis at hiring outsiders to do the heavy lifting: Thomas W. Hayes, Thomas E. Daxon and Popejoy. However, eight months from declaring bankruptcy, the board actually wants to . . . lead.

Given that the community elected the board, usually with little, if any, opposition, it should support the board in its efforts to resolve outstanding bankruptcy issues.

Taking center stage will be inhibited not just by a reticent and suspicious public but by the various interest groups claiming the Measure R mantle of victory. The jostling for position among the anti-tax elites has assumed Keystone Cop proportions, upstaged only by the pratfalls of the state Assembly.

Between its empty, angry rhetoric of recalls, the Committees of Correspondence gave voice to a populist constituency tragically underrepresented by the county’s political leadership. However, voicing anger and opposition amid turmoil is easier than crafting complicated solutions.

As easy targets of outrage fade, the Committees of Correspondence’s appeal and influence will wane. However, this should not deter it from ensuring that its core issues are addressed, not just pandered to.

The concerns of Thomas Fuentes, Hugh Hewitt and Buck Johns that county government will return to “business as usual” strike a discordant note. During previous efforts to bring about county government reforms, they never expressed the slightest support or interest. This is because their real concern is not a return to business as usual but the interference with it. Many of the county’s leading players fear that the board’s lack of leadership and preoccupation with their own survival will hinder the pursuit of profit by the county’s powerful economic interests. Principally, this hindrance consists of the loss or delay of government approval of large development or publicly funded projects, like the proposed El Toro airport.

Some leading players believe the appointment of a trustee fills the leadership void and saves the county from the board. However, state trusteeship is undemocratic and ludicrous. It’s an admission by one of the most wealthy and educated counties in America that it cannot solve its own problems.

That the Orange County Republican Central Committee supports the idea speaks volumes about how far the politics of convenience have led it from bedrock conservatism. The nationally rejuvenated Republican Party asserts the preeminence of local control. Support for trusteeship disregards this party credo. Further, state intervention deprives both the board and county residents of the democratic process and the lessons to be learned from it.

Worse, it is disingenuous for those who supported and elected the supervisors to abandon them. Without exception, the sitting board received the endorsement, financial support and fawning of the Lincoln Club and leadership of the Republican Party. This is not to say that this leadership has not positively contributed to the bankruptcy debate; it has. But why does the leadership of a party that dominates the county’s political landscape continue virulent partisanship in the face of a pending community crisis?

This board was fielded by senior Republican leaders. Now, seeing the scoreboard, this leadership wants the game called by seeking trusteeship. I urge those who have profited mightily from their political maneuvering to honor their earlier judgments and rally behind, not abort, their political progeny.

The public duly elected a board; the board has an opportunity, if not a duty, to fulfill its job description. This necessitates transcending the politics of survival and an ingrained culture that has poorly served Orange County residents. But the board is capable of doing this.

The recent county bankruptcy forum may signal a new, inclusive approach to policy formation. However, failing to meet this challenge will justify demands for major structural reforms of county government, including the proposal to eliminate the board in favor of a single, countywide, elected mayor.

Neither partisanship nor ideology will resolve the bankruptcy; what can is cooperation among various constituencies who put the interests of the county first. Fortunately, more than adequate human and financial resources and goodwill exist in the county to resolve this fiasco. It is the responsibility of elected leaders to bring these disparate resources to bear on solving the bankruptcy. We are still waiting.