Unrealized Hopes Mark Bergeson’s Tenure on Board

As Marian Bergeson cleaned out her office last week, she came across two yellow sheets of paper containing some thoughts she had jotted down in November 1994 before joining the Board of Supervisors.

The notes reflected the hopes, dreams and enthusiasm Bergeson had for the job back then. They spoke of a new era in Orange County where economic development would be encouraged, the delivery of government services would be enhanced and tourism and the arts would flourish.

“These were the goals I wanted to accomplish during my term,” she said, staring at the papers. “It says here, ‘Learn, read, listen and discuss.’ That’s what I wanted to do.”

But like everything else in county government, Bergeson’s grand plans for her administration took a back seat to the devastating bankruptcy that was declared less than three weeks before she took office.

Now, as she vacates the board with two years left on her term to take a job as the governor’s top education advisor, she steps down having accomplished very little in the realm of public policy. Dubbed one of the most effective lawmakers during her tenure as a state senator, Bergeson’s brief stint as supervisor is hardly notable.

It was not for lack of trying. Bergeson, 71, was one of the board’s most outspoken and free-thinking members, proposing radical reform measures aimed at streamlining government and making it more efficient.

She proposed televising board meetings but got rebuked. She wanted to create a county “mayor” and a part-time board but was ignored. She tried to block plans for a commercial airport and huge jail in her district but was repeatedly outvoted.

She took unpopular positions, such as supporting a sales tax increase to get out of the bankruptcy. And, on a board that traditionally avoided public clashes among members, she showed she was not afraid to tangle with her colleagues. At one point, she peeved other supervisors when she voted against paying the legal fees for Board Chairman Roger R. Stanton and Supervisor William G. Steiner, who are fighting misconduct charges for their roles in the bankruptcy.

“She hardly accomplished anything,” said attorney William Mitchell, a community activist who monitors the board’s actions. “The irony is that she is very well thought of throughout the county, but on the board she was on the losing end of nearly all the battles.”

Mitchell said the two board chairmen during her tenure, first Gaddi Vasquez and then Roger R. Stanton, “had no interest” in any of Bergeson’s reforms, and the other members did not seem to “buy into the aggressiveness” of her agenda.

“She was unlucky,” Mitchell said. “Bad timing.”

Publicly, Bergeson has said she enjoyed her time on the board--the shortest of any elected supervisor in the history of the county. Privately, however, she’s expressed to friends and associates that she departs somewhat frustrated and dissatisfied.

“I know she is disappointed,” said fellow Supervisor Steiner of Bergeson’s inability to accomplish her agendas. “But maybe her expectations were a little more than people were willing to bite and chew.”

Perhaps Bergeson’s greatest contributions came during the county’s ordeal to recover from its $1.64-billion financial collapse. Because of her close ties to Gov. Pete Wilson and many state legislators, she was instrumental in getting laws passed that facilitated the county’s recovery plan.

“Marian Bergeson played a major, major role in that,” Steiner said. “That’s an important legacy.”

Bergeson, a former elementary school teacher, acknowledges that she’s had a tough time adjusting to the differences between state and county government. During her 16 years as a state legislator in both the Senate and the Assembly, Bergeson earned a reputation as a tenacious fighter and persistent negotiator more focused on problem solving than playing politics.

With only four other board members to work with--compared with scores of state lawmakers--Bergeson thought consensus building wouldn’t be much of a problem. She was wrong.

“It was easier getting 41 votes in Sacramento than it was getting two other supervisors to agree with me,” she said in an interview this past week. “This is a different arena.”

Bergeson also said she underestimated the “limitations” that are placed on county governments because of all the funded and unfunded programs that the state and federal governments force the county to administer.

“In a way, it’s like the county is on auto-pilot,” she said. “So much of what we do is dictated by others.”

Dave Kiff, a former aide to Bergeson, said the county’s bureaucracy did not play to her political strengths.

“She expected to use her legislative skills more with her colleagues and found that both her colleagues and the county structure were not conducive to that,” Kiff said. “She was frustrated with many different things at different times. Mostly, she was frustrated with the county’s inability to set forth a vision.”

Kiff said Bergeson’s contributions to the county probably won’t be measured by the laws she helped pass--such as term limits for supervisors--but in a progressive attitude she brought to the board.

“Her stronger legacy has been establishing herself as someone who listens to her constituents and advocates for them,” Kiff said. “Those are the things that don’t necessarily show up in the county budgets or restructuring plans.”

Carmen Vali, president of the Aliso Viejo Community Assn., praised Bergeson for her responsiveness to South County residents.

“She gave us a louder voice in county government,” she said.

Lately, Vali and many of those constituents are wondering who will listen to them now that Bergeson has decided to leave Orange County for a post in the governor’s Cabinet. Speculation is rampant over who Wilson will appoint to replace her on the board.

Many residents in South County are especially concerned by who will become their next supervisor because they face two land-use issues that are certain to shape their future: a proposed airport at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station and the expansion of the James A. Musick Branch Jail in Irvine.

“We’re on pins and needles,” Vali said of the impending appointment, which could occur as soon as this week.

As for Bergeson, she too has her eyes on the future.

She said she is excited about becoming Wilson’s education advisor and returning to the field of education, her “true calling” in life.

Asked why she is taking on another challenge when most people her age look to enjoy the fruits of their labors in retirement, Bergeson simply smiled and shook her head.

“We all have our own idiosyncrasies,” she said.