Looking for Solutions After Gaddi Vasquez Departs

* As the number of Orange County employees continue to be reduced, so should the five-member Board of Supervisors. Gaddi H. Vasquez is one away. And next election Stanton’s position should fall under attrition--reduction-in-force (RIP . . . er . . . RIF). And in the following election, only one should be elected, and change the title to Officer-in-Charge.

SAM CASTELO

Irvine

* In the matter of designating a replacement for resigned Orange County Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez, we call upon Gov. Pete Wilson to take the moral high road by appointing the best person qualified to help lead the county out of its current problems and steer it successfully into the next century, unfettered by concerns of state or national politics or what is politically correct. These are times that call for a politically colorblind approach to governance.

His selection of this individual should reflect his present social-reform campaign ideology. California and the nation will watch carefully as he crafts the economic and political solution that will lead to Orange County’s recovery from the largest municipal bankruptcy in the nation’s history. This is a golden opportunity to showcase his vision, not only for California but also for America, as he seeks greater job opportunities. His conduct and actions in this matter will demonstrate the discipline and courtesy to the electorate as to the real meaning of his statement.

We believe that this $1.7-billion Greek tragedy calls for him to appoint a trustee to manage the fiscal affairs of Orange County, rather than merely apply the political super glue of appointing another politically correct understudy who will quietly maintain the status quo. For his plan to succeed, the appointee must have the qualifications that will be seen as the embodiment of the ideal leader for financially challenging times. The public will carefully scrutinize his choice--not only the 2.5 million affected residents in Orange County, but also the millions of voters nationwide whose opinions of our current California leadership may justly mirror the state’s own economic decline, from a worldwide economic force to be reckoned with down to economic orphan status in the eyes of the nation and the world.

We welcome the opportunity for him to demonstrate that, through successful leadership, the decline the state has witnessed during the last few years may, indeed, be reversible with the application of good old-fashioned work ethic values to do the job one has sought and was selected to do. Family values demand that one nurture the child one chose to have. Similarly, it demands that he rededicate himself to the task of nurturing the state he chose to lead. One must discard political opportunism and instead apply work ethics to the job at hand rather than climb the rungs of the political ladder. Americans stand together in their belief that work ethics and family values together can solve any problem.

During his first administration, LULAC challenged that he formulate a sound economic development plan for the state of California. In the absence of hearing otherwise from his office, we must believe that he has crafted a stealth economic plan that will guide California, and, by extension, the nation, out of its current economic chaos. Indeed, we eagerly anticipate his making his vision known, because surely the current fiscal and leadership bankruptcy of Los Angeles and Orange counties during his watch is not an epidemic that he’d like to see spread throughout the nation. We await his vision of the light at the end of the tunnel.

ARTURO MONTEZ

Statewide director, urban affairs

President, Santa Ana chapter

League of

United Latin American Citizens

* So Bruce Whitaker wants Gov. Wilson to appoint “someone not afraid of offending the bureaucracy” (“Who to Appoint? O.C. Leaders Make Pitches,” Aug. 8). It seems Bruce has not noticed that the Orange County bureaucracy is totally subservient to the supervisors and their political ambitions. No one in county service will make a move that might offend a supervisor. The problem is not the bureaucracy (the most efficient county staff of any urban county in California), it is the supervisors themselves.

Our erstwhile CEO, [William J.] Popejoy, got the boot when he pointed out the supervisors’ ethical, intellectual and leadership deficiencies. So much for tough-minded leadership from a captain of industry “challenging the bureaucracy.”

The county is stuck with the jail, the airports [and] welfare. All [are] festering problems that have no upside, and have a downside of criticism from everyone. The decisions that really matter, i.e., those that produce campaign contributions, are South County development approvals.

As long as we stay a general law county with a five-member board designed for 19th-Century agricultural conditions, we will continue to flounder. As long as the three supervisors who have no development work in their districts must raise their campaign funds in South County, we will continue to suffer from the policies and priorities that must follow from such a fundamentally flawed system.

Judge Bruce Sumner’s Orange County Charter Commission will have a more lasting impact on the quality of our government than any appointment Gov. Wilson could make.

ALAN J. NESTLINGER

Santa Ana

* The grand jury recommends converting the Orange County Board of Supervisors from full time to part time to “restore efficiency and public confidence.”

If they can’t get it right working full time. . . ?

PETER HORTON

Huntington Beach

* The Orange County treasurer and the Board of Supervisors first gambled with the people’s money. Then they borrowed to cover their losses. Now they want to take property taxes from cities and special districts or sales taxes entrusted to them for improvement of transportation, or to sell public assets. When are we going to replace any of these people that are still in office with individuals who understand the meaning of trust, responsibility and competent operation and management of government?

GEORGE W. WILLIAMS

Dana Point

* For the past 18 years, I have grown up in Orange County and have watched the county grow along with me. As I now head off to medical school at New York University, I will be leaving, for at least several years, the only home that I have known. Unfortunately, I’m not sure I will ever call it home again.

To my dismay, I have watched the agricultural fields that were once common in my community of Fountain Valley and in Orange County become mini-malls and parking lots. I have watched developers pave over the hills and canyons of the county, not only destroying valuable open space but threatening many of the animals that formerly occupied these regions. I have watched countless new roads be built, only leading to more congestion.

Of course, the developers could not have done all this without the backing and approval of the County Board of Supervisors, who were only too happy to oblige their largest political contributors.

Furthermore, as just about everyone but the supervisors acknowledges, these same supervisors were also instrumental in the county’s recent bankruptcy through their lack of oversight of Robert Citron’s investments. I was particularly ashamed of my fellow Orange Countians who refused to participate in the renewal of the county’s financial infrastructure through the passage of Measure R, even though they reaped, as I did, the monies and benefits that poured in during the prosperous years of Citron’s investments.

As a moderate liberal, I have often felt that conservative Orange County was headed on the wrong track. But now, with the recent circumstances and the public’s reaction to these happenings, I am certain. So long. It’s time for me to move on to greener pastures (after all, there are so few left in Orange County).

ARMAN AFAGH

Fountain Valley