In todays OC Register coverage of the fundraising for the open First District seat, on the County Board of Supervisors, UCI professor Mark Petracca is quoted on the sums being raised for this position.
Peggy Lowe reports that he “was shocked at the high amount of contributions because the board doesn’t have as much power as it did before 1990, when it planned and controlled vast amounts of unincorporated land.”
Peggy’s article goes on to quote Mark saying “that’s an obscene amount of money for a position that, frankly, doesn’t control or do much…twenty years ago, being a member of the board of supervisors meant something.”And the question for Juice readers:
What’s your reaction to Mark’s statement.
Do we really know the duties and responsibilites of those who serve on the Board.
The county has a CEO running the show. the BOS should be a non-paid position.
Mark is absolutely right. Becoming a member of the BOS is more about serving special interests than serving the public. That so much money is being flung at these candidates is indicative of the degree to which these interests want to control the outcome.
Nope, don’t agree. When Union-squish Campbell, empty suit Wilson and the liberal Democrat can vote us into the unfunded pension mess, that’s plenty of power. That wasn’t Mauk’s debacle.
Where has Petracca been? I thought he was the repository of all local political knowledge? Did he miss the recent 5th District Supervisorial campaign in which two candidates each spent millions to capture the seat? Or the amount raised by Chris Norby to unseat Cynthia Coad 5 years ago? His comments in today’s Register, if the Register presented them accurately, are not in sync with the reality of the amount of money people raise and spend on Supervisorial races. No matter whether the positions are as powerful as they once were or not, they are trophies that some pursue with big bucks! (they are also safe-havens for termed out State legislators, and visa-versa). Makes me wonder if his comments have some kind of political motivation behind them to help influence this race —– can’t figure out any other reason why he would be so far off the mark.
The BOS has changed dramatically in the past 30 years. Back then, the BOS had real power over a lot of real estate and issues. Today, that real estate has shrunk to almost nothing, other than the airport, and a few “islands”. They still have to deal with State and Federal “mandates” and of course employee salary, benefit & pension issues, but they have no real extended power anymore. Their most far reaching programs are the police & fire services they sell to some cities and fire has changed from 100% County controlled to the multi agency controlled Fire Authority.
The BOS positions are nothing more than a step up the ladder for local politico’s and a parking space for those termed out of other spots and looking for their next big move, like Correa and Umberg. The respective parties, unions, big contributors throw money at these folks because they see them as having control over their current issues, or as having potential control over larger issues, as they move up in the future.
But in fairness, you also have to look at the amount of $$$ being spent in City races too and wonder why. Some Cities, like Santa Ana are no strangers to the $100,000+ races. That’s been going on forever there. Costa Mesa had been a sleepy little City where $10 or $15,000 was big bucks for a Council seat. That’s changed in the past 4+ years to the $100,000 category we saw last November. It’s the same in many other cities. Look at Irvine, Orange, Anaheim, etc.
The larger question is, why are all these City races taking larger and larger budgets? Why are the local Rep & Dem parties playing so heavily in local races? Same reason. It’s the bull pen for their next round of County & State candidates.
Anyone that reads Bill Campbell’s
weekly newsletter has a pretty good
idea of what the responsibilities
should be. Although we have differed from Bill from time to time on specific issues…we can’t
fault him for being the dutiful and
caring person that occupies a responsible position in Orange County policy making. Now, having
said that…it is quite true that
others on the Board have talked up
a good story….but really don’t
put their diaries out to the public
…which is worrisome. On the matter of campaign finances, there
is little to be shocked about. Those that want access and policy
decisions going “their way”…can
be found making the proper deposits. What recently has caught
our eye of course is the pandering
to the Fumigation industry when all
the science and the studies tell us
that tough regulatory requirements
would be common sense. Our guess
is that the Heat Treat people aren’t big enough yet…to make the
proper deposits necessary. In public policy..we draw the line when it comes to health and safety
issues. Let’s hope these occasional glitches in policy that
are driven from land barons and
direct deposits will not be tempting enough to repeat on a
continuing basis.