VOICES : O.C.: Fiscally Bankrupt, but With Optimism to Spare

As a county named for its agricultural past anticipates the year 2000, The Times Orange County asked community and government leaders to gaze into the future and offer their visions.

Many paused. Some asked for time to ponder.

Generally, they foresaw a county on the financial mend but suffering the social costs of its bankruptcy, with cutbacks in services and increases in need.

Many conveyed a sense of optimism, foreseeing a more ethnically diverse and yet more harmonious Orange County, where arts and tourism thrive, and, as one said, the can-do spirit returns “with a vengeance.”

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Rusty Kennedy, 43, Fullerton, executive director of the Orange County Human Relations Commission:

Kennedy

“People are not going to think of Europe as cosmopolitan as much as they are going to think of California and Orange County as cosmopolitan. . . . We’ll be an incredibly diverse community where no single group is dominant.

“We’ll continue to be a population that is widely diverse in age. The majority of the working population will be ethnic minorities, and the retired Anglos will be living on Social Security payments provided” by them.

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Debbie McEwen, 42, Santa Ana, president of the French Park Neighborhood Assn.:

McEwen

“Everybody’s holding out their hand to help the poor. But there’s far more of them than us--that is, those in need are outweighing those with the ability to give, and that will get worse. . . .

“After a while, the need and the needy becomes so great, you just have to turn and run. You can’t take care of every outstretched hand. This is going to continue growing.”

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Charles V. Smith, 63, mayor of Westminster and immediate past president of the Orange County division of League of California Cities:

Smith

“County government will be extensively downsized, and cities will take over the responsibility. Services will be regionalized, as they do with the Orange County Fire Authority. We will combine special districts.”

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Enriqueta Ramos, 63, Santa Ana, president of the Board of Trustees of the Rancho Santiago Community College District:

Ramos

“People will begin thinking it is OK to be ethnically diverse, and thinking of it as a plus, especially businessmen. When they see people coming in who speak different languages, they will say, ‘It was not such a bad move that we hired this person.’ ”

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Wayne Wedin, 55, Brea, chairman of the board of the Orange County Business Council:

Wedin

“Orange County will have at least two more professional teams, basketball and football, a remodeled baseball park and a new football stadium. Possibly a pro soccer team, also. All in Anaheim. . . .

“There will be an innovative connection between tourism and sports, with an emphasis on sports. There will be a high-tech community between hotels and restaurants, allowing visitors to participate not only in Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm, but in sports facilities as well. . . .

“There is a growing tourism market. The economy of the county is growing despite the government problems.”

Randy Jordan, 45, Mission Viejo, publisher of Black Orange:

Jordan

“There will be a movement of [African American) people away from Los Angeles County, as people become more aware of the community here. . . . We will see the growth of many types of ethnic churches. You will see growth of African American churches, even in South County, not just in Santa Ana.”

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Carole Walters, 51, Orange, president of the city of Orange Taxpayers Assn. and board member of the Committees of Correspondence:

Walters

“I don’t see us as pulling out of the bankruptcy. Every day you hear something at the county that’s costing the taxpayers money. . . .

“More offices will be closed. People will be getting laid off. There will be more welfare cutbacks.”

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John M.W. Moorlach, 40, Costa Mesa, Orange County treasurer-tax collector:

Moorlach

“It’s not going to be much different than it is now. We’ll still be paying off debts. Twenty-five percent of the county’s 20-year bankruptcy workout plan will be completed. . . .

“We are lean and mean, and we’ll probably be that way for some time.”

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William J. Popejoy, 57, Newport Beach, former Orange County CEO:

Popejoy

“Special districts will be merged. It will save money. . . . Taxes will go down and fees from usage for services will go down. People will see a better quality of education through the merger of some school districts.”

County government “was pretty fat and sassy, and it got a lot of people’s attention. That’s the silver lining to the bankruptcy.”

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Richard Stein, 42, San Juan Capistrano, executive director of the Laguna Playhouse:

Stein

“The can-do spirit will return to Orange County with a vengeance, reviving the enthusiasm for making our community a world-class arts center. A new wave of arts lovers will bring us to the next tier, building upon the foundation created by our county’s generous pioneering arts patrons.”

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Bill LaPointe, 55, Laguna Beach, publisher of the Blade, a magazine for the gay and lesbian community:

LaPointe

“I see the gay and lesbian community as only getting stronger and infiltrating enough of the mainstream in terms of good deeds and showing we’re part of the whole community.

“There are always going to be . . . tensions, but they are from a small minority.”

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Soto

Msgr. Jaime Soto, 40, Santa Ana, vicar for the Latino community, Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange:

“As a result of the aggressive citizenship drives among immigrant communities, both Asian and Latin, we will see increased participation from those communities.”