Board Finally Wises Up

The Board of Supervisors did the right thing, albeit after needless delay and expense, when it decided not to appeal a court ruling rejecting the board majority’s contention that Measure H was unconstitutional and interfered with their management.

Further legal battling would only have been more costly and divisive, and would have put Supervisors Cynthia P. Coad, Jim Silva and Chuck Smith more out of step with the strong wishes of county residents expressed in Measure H’s approval to spend tobacco settlement funds on community health care. The three first voted to file a lawsuit to keep the measure off the November ballot. That lost. Then they voted for a second lawsuit to overturn the measure after it received 65% voter approval. That lost too.

Any appeal was doomed last Monday when Silva, noting that “the courts and people have spoken,” wisely declared he would not support an appeal. That gave Supervisors Todd Spitzer and Tom Wilson, steadfast supporters of Measure H, the third vote they needed to end efforts to kill the initiative. Coad, who earlier maintained she only wanted court review of Measure H’s constitutionality, nevertheless voted to pursue an appeal along with Smith.

The board’s blatant disregard of voters’ wishes prompted state Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer to accuse the board of abusing the law. He also argued that the suit, which named Dr. J. Brennan Cassidy, former president of the Orange County Medical Assn., as the lone defendant, was a form of legal punishment. Cassidy had to pay his own legal costs.

Although the court upheld the initiative, it said the county had a valid legal basis to sue, so the action did not qualify as a nuisance suit. That decision left Cassidy, a leader in the initiative battle, still liable for his legal bills.

The county claims Cassidy was targeted as a defendant because it was “the most efficient way” to get the issue to court. Nevertheless, singling out Cassidy seemed mean-spirited if the board majority was only testing the initiative.

A drive is underway in the community to raise money to help pay Cassidy’s legal bills. That should send a message that the community will not let its leaders face financial ruin--or be intimidated into lowering its voice when its elected representatives refuse to listen.