There should have been an election!

Should any tragic event, natural disaster or resignation cause it necessary to replace anyone or all on the OC Board of Supervisors….according to the Orange County Charter….they have to have a public election!

Why then, when it came to the replacement of the Sheriff – also an elected office was an election not required? This is a huge failure of a system that rewards….in this case…the Board of Supervisors with the selection of a replacement for a Public Elective Office! This is a serious flaw in our system of government. Had Sheriff Carona stepped down and resigned for any reason prior to the completion of his term…..there should have been an election! Whether any of us are pleased with the person selected by the Supervisors…matters not. This is a flawed process that needs fixing because “the people” are ones being left out! Those in power flaunt their muscles by simply saying that we live in a “Representative Government System”! True…with the exception of the fact that we do get to vote for those Representatives……all of them! The OC Sheriff is elected so that a “good old boy network” doesn’t find it so easy to control that office!

In the City of Newport Beach over the last five years…..this same system has been utilized to have members of the standing City Council replace members that either resigned early or left without cause. The result has been a system of perpetual selection. Councilmember Gary Proctor resigned..a few years back and was replaced by a Council Selected candidate named Steve Rosansky! Councilman Gary Adams then resigned and was replaced by Lesie Daigle. Keith Curry replaced a resigning John Heffernan….and so it goes! As anyone might guess…this gave those selected “incumbent status” in the following election cycle. Each and every one was easily re-elected in the next regular election cycle…many serving upwards of three years plus on the resigning members term…then still being elegible for two more full terms: thus slipping by our term limits of two four year stints – serving 11 years in some cases!

The selection of a new OC Sheriff for all intense purposes follows this same flawed concept of promoting “whoever the power structure wants”! The people…are virtually left out of the process. We need to change the Orange County Charter to suggest that any “elected office official” that resigns or leaves because of health or other considerations should require an election at the next available cycle or in some cases “a special election”..as is the case for the Board of Supervisors. If anyone didn’t notice, the June 3rd Election would have been a perfect fit to have “the people” select the next Sheriff rather than leaving the choice of an “incumbent” to the Board of Supervisors.

What about Assessor? What about Treasurer? Which elected offices do you believe should be selected by the Board of Supervisors?


About Ron & Anna Winship

Independent News Producers/Writers and Directors for Parker-Longbow Productions. Independent Programming which includes a broad variety of Political, Entertainment and Professional Personalities. Cutting Edge - a talk show...is the flagship of over 30 URL websites developed or under development. The Winships have been blogging for the Orange Juice since back when nickels had buffalos on them, and men wore onions attached to their belts, because it was the fashion back then.