Orange County Voices : COMMENTARY ON CHARTER PROPOSAL : Rise to the Challenge of Changing Orange County’s Structure : The Charter Commission proposes having a strong CEO, appointed by a part-time board of five or nine supervisors.

The land of Disney, Knott’s Berry Farm, the California Angels, UC Irvine, Cal State University at Fullerton and Chapman University is broke. For a county that is also known for its unique brand of politics and lavish lifestyle, the latest challenge is to take the opportunity afforded by our financial disaster to focus on county government to see if we can improve our basic governmental structure through the use of a charter.

The Orange County Charter Commission, appointed by the Board of Supervisors in March, started with one unanimous understanding. No matter what the structure, good government requires good people. No matter how perfect the form of county government--if people of integrity, common sense and dedication are not elected or appointed--the system, no matter how good or efficient, will not compensate for their failings. We also know that the converse is true. If the structure of county government prevents these good people from reaching their full potential as servants of the people, we will not have the full measure of efficiency, honesty and economy in government that we all want to see.

Next, we know that the citizens of our county are both angry and suspicious of any proposed change or “improvement.” We have been lied to and misled by our leaders in the past, persons that we trusted, knew and personally liked. How could any change in county government help us now? The answer is that the alternative of no change is an unacceptable choice, unless we are willing to have county government continue to do business as usual. If that is the choice, stand by for a repeat of our recent debacle, perhaps in a different form. The present system lends itself to what happened and worse.

In considering the challenge of how or whether to change our governmental structure, we have to understand that all counties are creatures of the state. Counties are established under a state constitutional mandate and there are both requirements and restrictions on what they can do. We can’t abolish county government, as some have suggested. Nor can we make unlimited changes, but that restriction is lessened with the use of a charter. Orange County is currently what is known as a general law county. That means that the structure of our county government is determined by a combination of state statute and the state Constitution.

The Constitution also provides for charter counties if the people in a county choose, by a majority vote, to adopt a charter. A charter also has certain limitations and these are set out in the state Constitution, but a charter can increase the number of supervisors from five to any number, set term limits, change all elected officers except the board, sheriff, district attorney, and assessor to appointed officials and expand the power of a county to “privatize” or contract out county government services. By charter, government services can be combined if a county thinks that this would be desirable.

Some of the things listed above could also be done by a vote of the people in a general law county. Therefore, the first task of the Charter Commission was to determine if it would be in the best interest of the people for Orange County to go to a charter form of government. The decision of the commission in April was yes. We thought it was in the best interest of our county to allow for an increase in the ability of county government to contract out county services, that the citizens should have the right to increase the size of our board of supervisors and that by use of a charter we could more clearly define the basic framework of our county government within the limits provided in the state Constitution. These things can’t be done in our present general law status.

We have nearly completed our work. We are proposing that we increase the power to privatize, have a strong CEO, appointed by a part-time board whose job and compensation would be limited, set term limits, and ask the people if they want a five- or nine-member Board of Supervisors.

Some have said that we should put more detail about government operations in the charter. We have resisted that temptation in the belief that a board of supervisors should have the power to set policy that would be carried out by a strong chief executive officer. If, with the passage of time and experience with our new form of government, people want to change the charter they can do so. But the experience of those counties with charters that put the details of government in their charter has been that this restricts the flexibility of the board by requiring minor legislative questions to be submitted to a vote of the electorate.

In the next several weeks our proposals will be completed. As chairman of the commission, all that I ask is that people read our proposals, weigh them against our present system and, if they believe that what we are suggesting is an improvement, vote for the charter. No proposal will satisfy all segments of our diverse population. All that I ask is that you consider and understand the changes we recommend.

On behalf of the commission, we believe that the changes proposed would be an improvement and that our broadly representative 37-member commission, made up of five from each of the five supervisorial districts and 12 at large, will present a proposal to the citizens of Orange County that will make Orange County not only a leader in entertainment, sports and higher education, but an example of how county government can be changed to keep up with the dramatic technological and social advances that have occurred since our county was formed more than 100 years ago.