Norby Makes a Challenge in 4th District

A caller apologized to Fullerton City Councilman Chris Norby for bothering him during the opening ceremonies for the Winter Olympics. Norby smiled--he’d had no time for TV. He’d spent long hours at his daily ritual, calling more than 100 absentee voters.

Norby, who is challenging Orange County Supervisor Cynthia P. Coad on March 5, says he’s campaigning the same way he won four council terms: with as much personal contact as possible.

His message: A plan for an airport at the former El Toro Marine base is a quagmire that has kept the Board of Supervisors from focusing on other vital issues. It will stay that way until the airport issue is dead, Norby theorizes.

And the airport won’t die, he says, until someone replaces Coad, one of a three-member majority backing an international airport at the 4,700-acre former air station.

Norby, 52, a high school history and government teacher, is almost an anomaly among North County elected officials for his El Toro stance. It’s made him popular with airport foes in South County, who have contributed the vast majority of his campaign funds. Some even put Norby campaign signs in their frontyards, although they can’t vote for him.

Closer to home, three of his council colleagues endorse Coad.

Said Councilwoman Jan Flory: “In the seven years I’ve served with Chris, I haven’t found him to be for anything.”

Mainly what he’s for, Norby insists, is less government--and one that does better at solving problems it’s supposed to address.

Norby first gained attention outside Fullerton in the early 1990s when he organized Municipal Officials for Redevelopment Reform to promote a pamphlet he wrote. The pamphlet, now in its sixth printing, warns that redevelopment is out of control.

“Cities are put in a position where they literally have to pay money to big-box retailers to locate there,” Norby said. “You can’t blame them, because they know they can get it. But is it really good policy to allow these guys to shake cities down for money?”

Instead, Norby says, cities should reach agreements--such as one between Anaheim and Fullerton--that will keep new retail developers from pitting one city against another.

County supervisors don’t have control over city issues like redevelopment. But Norby believes supervisors can promote cooperation.

The county board, he contends, “is a pulpit. We can set a tone, bring people together.”

That’s one reason he passionately opposes an El Toro airport, saying it shouldn’t be foisted on South County residents who don’t want it. He supports Measure W, an initiative on the March ballot to rezone the base for other uses, including a park. Coad opposes it.

“This airport issue has split this county between north and south,” Norby said. “I don’t have anything against Mission Viejo or Irvine. I want to be working with those people on issues.”

Moreover, he says, it makes no sense to put a major airport just seven miles from John Wayne Airport. No two airports in the country are anywhere near that close, he tells voters.

It was only recently that Norby even considered challenging Coad. He didn’t even live in the 4th District. Nobody in Fullerton did.

Last fall, electoral districts--for the county, the state Legislature and Congress--were realigned based on the 2000 Census. The 4th district had included Buena Park, Placentia and Anaheim. The new boundaries eliminated the eastern half of Anaheim (east of the Orange Freeway), and added all of La Habra and Fullerton.

Despite initial skepticism from those close to him, Norby said he was ready to take on the challenge of trying for higher office.

“Take on a wealthy incumbent who has plenty of campaign money? I told him he was crazy,” said his brother, Eric Norby, an attorney who is among his best friends. “But it became pretty clear that voters are looking for someone who is issues-oriented. And that’s certainly Chris’ strength.”

It was his penchant for delving into issues, his love of teaching government and history, and a deep affection for his city that drew Norby to local politics in the 1980s.

A third-generation Fullerton resident of Norwegian heritage, Norby’s campaign headquarters downtown is just a few blocks from the middle-class home where he was raised. He is quick to point out that he’s the only member of the City Council who lives south of Chapman Avenue, while the others are from the more affluent north side, which he believes keeps him in touch with a more diverse group of voters.

Norby has taught at Brea-Olinda High School for 16 years. He first ran for the City Council in 1984, and has been reelected in successive campaigns and served two stints as mayor. Should his bid for the Board of Supervisors fall short, he said, he expects to run again for council when his term is up in two years.

While Norby can’t outspend Coad--she’s financing most of her race with her personal wealth, and may quadruple him in campaign funds--he said he’s raised enough money and has enough volunteers to get his message out. His goal was to raise $300,000, but his campaign staff says the total will wind up closer to $200,000.

Norby believes Coad also is vulnerable on Measure H, an initiative passed in November 2000. It forced the county to spend almost all its $750 million in tobacco settlement money on health care. Coad was among the majority that wanted to use it to reduce the county’s bankruptcy debt. She also voted with to challenge Measure H in court. When the board lost there, she wanted to appeal the ruling.

“We need a Board of Supervisors that’s not constantly seeking litigation,” Norby said.

Coad and Norby are both Republicans. Though Coad boasts in campaign literature that she is a conservative, the two are wide apart on the political spectrum, with Norby the more conservative.

Some Coad supporters want to depict Norby as more Libertarian than Republican. They also want to tie him with groups such as the controversial California Coalition for Immigration Reform, which opposes most benefits for illegal immigrants and is known for its divisive language. Its leader, Barbara Coe, has endorsed Norby, but he doesn’t use her endorsement in his campaign literature.

Instead, he promotes his endorsement by the Fullerton Police Officers Assn., and such former mayors as Bill Thom of Anaheim and Maria Moreno of Placentia. Anaheim Mayor Tom Daly last week switched his endorsement from Coad to Norby, saying Coad hasn’t done enough to cooperate with Anaheim.

Coad, however, has locked up most of the major endorsements, many of them long before Norby got into the campaign. She’s has used it to her advantage at times.

At a recent joint appearance with Coad, for example, Norby told voters about his confidence in county Treasurer John M.W. Moorlach. That gave Coad the chance to respond that Moorlach has endorsed her, not Norby.

Coad resists too much public criticism of Norby, preferring to stick with her own positions. But in Coad’s view, Norby hasn’t paid his dues, nor has he built support to make himself a viable candidate.

“If you take away all the support he’s getting from outside the district, you really can’t find many people behind him,” she says.

But Norby said his anti-airport view stems from a greater concern that important matters were being overlooked.

“Instead of being deadlocked 3-2--airport, airport, airport--there are so many issues we can all agree are concerns,” he said. “Whether we live in San Clemente or Stanton.”