- Orange County Board of Supervisors
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The Orange County Board of Supervisors is the five-member governing body of Orange County, California.
Contents
Membership
The Board consists of five Supervisors elected by districts to four-year terms by the citizens of Orange County. The Supervisors represent districts of approximately 600,000 people.
Supervisorial elections take place in June, with run-off elections (if necessary) in November. Supervisorial terms begin the first Monday after January 1 after the election. Vacancies on the Board are filled via special election since Orange County voters adopted a county charter in March 2002. Prior to the adoption of the charter, vacancies on the Board were filled by appointment by the Governor of California. The December 1996 appointment of Laguna Niguel City Councilman Thomas W. Wilson by Governor Pete Wilson (no relation) was the last time that a gubernatorial appointment was used to fill a supervisorial vacancy (Supervisor Marian Bergeson had resigned to become the California Secretary of Education). The January 2003 special election of former State Assemblyman Bill Campbell was the first time that a special election was used to fill a supervisorial vacancy (Supervisor Todd Spitzer had resigned after he was elected to the State Assembly to replace the term-limited Campbell).
The current members of the board of supervisors are:
- District 1: Janet Nguyen, Republican (since March 2007)
- District 2: John Moorlach, Republican (since December 2006)
- District 3: Bill Campbell, Republican (since February 2003)
- District 4: Shawn Nelson, Republican (since June 2010)
- District 5: Patricia C. Bates, Republican (since January 2007)
Functions
The board makes decisions relating to land use, public utilities, and transportation, both directly and indirectly through its power over budgets and appointments to boards, committees, and commissions. Services that are ultimately managed by the board include regional parks, water, sewers, animal control, buses, freeways, and commuter rail.
History and issues
In the conservative political climate of Orange County, a number of the problems and controversies encountered by the board in its history have been related to questions of the proper size and role of government.
Until the 1970's, there was no countywide bus service. At the urging of supervisor Ralph B. Clark, city buses were bought, and the city bus system later became the Orange County Transportation Authority. In 2009, supervisor John Moorlach questioned whether OCTA should continue to exist.[1]
In 1994, Orange County declared Chapter 9 bankruptcy due to a high-flying investment scheme created by treasurer Robert Citron.
In the 2010 supervisorial race, one of the main issues is county relations with unions.[2]
Supervisorial Districts
The First Supervisorial District consists of the cities of Santa Ana and Westminster, as well as the eastern half of the city of Garden Grove.
The Second Supervisorial District consists of the cities of Costa Mesa, Cypress, Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, La Palma, Los Alamitos, Newport Beach, Seal Beach, and Stanton, as well as the western half of the city of Garden Grove. It also includes the unincorporated areas of Rossmoor, Sunset Beach, and Surfside.
The Third Supervisorial District consists of the cities of Brea, Irvine, Orange, Tustin, Villa Park, and Yorba Linda, as well as the Anaheim Hills area in the city of Anaheim. It also includes the unincorporated areas of El Modena, MCAS El Toro, Modjeska Canyon, Olive, Orange Park Acres, Santiago Canyon, Silverado, Trabuco Canyon, and Tustin Foothills.
The Fourth Supervisorial District consists of the cities of Buena Park, Fullerton, La Habra, Placentia, as well as the portions of the city of Anaheim outside of Anaheim Hills.
The Fifth Supervisorial District consists of the cities of Aliso Viejo, Dana Point, Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Woods, Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, as well as the unincorporated areas of Coto de Caza, Ladera Ranch, and Las Flores.
Special elections
Since voters adopted Measure V, the creation of the county charter, in March 2002, vacancies on the Board of Supervisors have been filled by special election.
January 28, 2003 Third District special election
The first special election used to fill a vacancy on the Orange County Board of Supervisors was held on January 28, 2003. Third District Supervisor Todd Spitzer had resigned on November 19, 2002 in preparation for taking office as a member of the California State Assembly on December 2 to replace the term-limited Bill Campbell. Campbell, in turn, easily won the special election to fill the remaining two years of Spitzer's term.
Candidate Votes Percent Bill Campbell 26,206 74.6% Jim Potts 4,692 13.4% Douglas Boeckler 2,085 5.9% William A. Wetzel 1,548 4.4% Robert Louis Douglas 585 1.7% February 6, 2007 First District special election
The second special election used to fill a vacancy on the Orange County Board of Supervisors was held on February 6, 2007. First District Supervisor Lou Correa had resigned when he took office as a member of the California State Senate on December 4 to replace the term-limited Joe Dunn. Garden Grove City Councilwoman Janet Nguyen won the special election to fill the remaining two years of the term by seven votes over Garden Grove Unified School District Boardmember Trung Nguyen (no relation) after a protracted recount battle (ironically, Correa had defeated Assemblywoman Lynn Daucher for the Senate seat after a protracted recount battle, as well). Both Nguyens had unexpectedly finished ahead of the front-runners, recently-retired State Assemblyman Tom Umberg and Santa Ana City Councilman Carlos Bustamante.
Candidate Votes Percent Janet Nguyen 10,919 24.1% Trung Nguyen 10,912 24.1% Tom Umberg 9,725 21.4% Carlos Bustamante 7,460 16.5% Mark Rosen 2,181 4.8% Brett Elliott Franklin 1,739 3.8% Kermit Marsh 1,335 2.9% Larry Phan 417 0.9% Lupe Moreno 383 0.8% Benny Diaz 273 0.6% June 8, 2010 Fourth District special election
The third special election used to fill a vacancy on the Orange County Board of Supervisors was held on June 8, 2010, and was consolidated with the regular primary election for the next term for the seat. Fourth District Supervisor Chris Norby had resigned when he took office as a member of the California State Assembly on January 29 to replace Mike Duvall, who had resigned from the Assembly in the wake of a lobbyist sex scandal. Fullerton City Councilman Shawn Nelson won the seat by 2.2% over Anaheim City Councilman Harry Sidhu.
While Nelson won the special election to fill the remaining seven months of Norby's term, the special election was consolidated with the regular primary election, so Nelson and Sidhu advanced to a November run-off election to win the four-year term due to begin in January 2011. Nelson won the election for the 2011-2015 term by a 63%-37% margin.
Candidate Votes Percent Shawn Nelson 18,739 30.4% Harry Sidhu 11,421 18.5% Lorri Galloway 10,035 16.3% Art Brown 9,986 16.2% Rose Marie Espinoza 7,616 12.3% Richard Faher 3,873 6.3% Special districts
Following are the special districts managed by the Orange County Board of Supervisors
- Flood control
- Development agency
- Lighting
- County Service Area
- Sewer Maintenance
Chairs and Vice Chairs
Harriett Wieder became the first woman to serve as Vice Chair in 1980 and as Chair in 1984. Patricia C. Bates and Janet Nguyen became the first pair of women to serve as Chair and Vice Chair concurrently in 2009.
Gaddi Vasquez became the first Latino to serve as Vice Chair in 1990 and as Chair in 1991.
Janet Nguyen became the first Asian American to serve as Vice Chair in 2009 and Chair in 2010.
Year Chair Vice Chair 1968 C. M. Featherly 1969 William H. Hirstein 1970 Alton Allen 1971 Robert Battin 1972 Ronald Caspers 1973 1974 Ralph B. Clark 1975 Ralph Diedrich 1976 1977 Thomas F. Riley 1978 1979 Philip Anthony 1980 Ralph B. Clark Harriett Wieder 1981 Bruce Nestande 1982 Bruce Nestande Roger R. Stanton 1983 Roger R. Stanton Harriett Wieder 1984 Harriett Wieder Thomas F. Riley 1985 Thomas F. Riley Ralph B. Clark 1986 Ralph B. Clark Bruce Nestande 1987 Roger R. Stanton Harriett Wieder 1988 Harriett Wieder Thomas F. Riley 1989 Thomas F. Riley Don Roth 1990 Don Roth Gaddi Vasquez 1991 Gaddi Vasquez Roger R. Stanton 1992 Roger R. Stanton Harriett Wieder 1993 Harriett Wieder Thomas F. Riley 1994 Thomas F. Riley Gaddi Vasquez 1995 Gaddi Vasquez Roger R. Stanton 1996 Roger R. Stanton William G. Steiner 1997 William G. Steiner Jim Silva 1998 Jim Silva Thomas W. Wilson 1999 Charles V. Smith 2000 Jim Silva 2001 Cynthia Coad 2002 Thomas W. Wilson 2003 Thomas W. Wilson Jim Silva 2004 2005 Bill Campbell Thomas W. Wilson 2006 Chris Norby 2007 Chris Norby John Moorlach 2008 John Moorlach Patricia C. Bates 2009 Patricia C. Bates Janet Nguyen 2010 Janet Nguyen Bill Campbell 2011 Bill Campbell John Moorlach Former Supervisors
Year 1st District 2nd District 3rd District 4th District 5th District 1963 C. M. Featherly David L. Baker William J. Phillips William H. Hirstein Alton Allen 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 Robert Battin 1970 1971 Ralph Clark Ronald Caspers 1972 1973 Ralph Diedrich 1974 1975 Laurence Schmit Thomas F. Riley[3] 1976 1977 Philip Anthony[4] 1978 1979 Harriett Wieder 1980 Edison Miller[5] 1981 Roger R. Stanton[6] Bruce Nestande 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 Gaddi Vasquez[7] Don Roth 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 William G. Steiner[8] 1994 1995 Jim Silva Marian Bergeson 1996 Donald Saltarelli[9] 1997 Charles V. Smith Todd Spitzer Thomas W. Wilson[10] 1998 1999 Cynthia Coad 2000 2001 2002 2003 Bill Campbell[11] Chris Norby 2004 2005 Lou Correa 2006 2007 Janet Nguyen[12] John Moorlach[13] Patricia C. Bates 2008 2009 2010 Shawn Nelson[14] 2011 Notes
- ^ http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/bus-13295-service-system.html
- ^ http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/union-247813-nelson-sidhu.html
- ^ Thomas Riley was appointed by Governor Ronald Reagan in September 1974 to replace Ronald Caspers, who had died in office when his ship disappeared in June just nine days after being reelected
- ^ Philip Anthony was inaugurated in November 1976 (two months early), as Robert Battin had been disqualified from office eight months before the expiration of his supervisorial term
- ^ Edison Miller was appointed by Governor Jerry Brown in July 1979 to replace Ralph Diedrich, who had resigned from office
- ^ Roger Stanton was a registered Democrat during his first term as a Supervisor but was a registered Republican for his final three terms
- ^ Gaddi Vasquez was appointed by Governor George Deukmejian in March 1987 to replace Bruce Nestande, who had resigned from office
- ^ William Steiner was appointed by Governor Pete Wilson in March 1993 to replace Don Roth, who had resigned from office
- ^ Donald Saltarelli was appointed by Governor Pete Wilson in October 1995 to replace Gaddi Vasquez, who had resigned from office
- ^ Thomas Wilson was appointed by Governor Pete Wilson in December 1996 to replace Marian Bergeson, who had resigned to become State Secretary of Education
- ^ Bill Campbell won a January 2003 special election to replace Todd Spitzer, who had resigned in December 2002 to take a seat in the State Assembly
- ^ Janet Nguyen won a February 2007 special election to replace Lou Correa, who had resigned in December 2006 to take a seat in the State Senate
- ^ John Moorlach was inaugurated in December 2006 (one month early), as Jim Silva had resigned one month before the expiration of his supervisorial term to take a seat in the State Assembly
- ^ Shawn Nelson won a June 2010 special election to replace Chris Norby, who had resigned in January 2010 to take a seat in the State Assembly
External links
Categories:- Government in Orange County, California
- Local government in California
- Orange County Supervisors
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