How the Public Can Give Itself
a Voice on County Board
By SHIRLEY GRINDLE
For the last four
decades, Orange County supervisors have relied on the development industry
for most of their campaign funds. This is because political contributions
generally are made by those who have something to gain or lose by the actions
of the officials to whom they contribute.
It is not surprising
that the development industry (builders, architects, engineers, geologists,
land planners, etc.) are big-time contributors because the board has final
say on their development projects. This relationship is so pervasive that
you can tell which projects are on the board's agenda simply by looking
at the list of their recent campaign donors.
Although the development
industry has always been the single largest source of contributions, this
was about to change when the future of the El Toro military base became
the focus of the 1998 county elections.
When Supervisor Jim
Silva, one of the three-person pro-airport majority, had to run for reelection
in 1998, he was in for the battle of his life. South County residents saw
an opportunity to replace him with an anti-airport candidate, and thereby
secure the vital third vote needed to defeat the commercial airport plans.
What occurred in
the primary and runoff elections in June and November of 1998 may likely
turn out to be one of the few good things to emerge from the costly El
Toro airport battle. A review of the data contained in the campaign disclosure
statements filed by incumbent Silva and his challenger, Dave Sullivan,
reveals that both candidates raised almost the same amount of money (Silva,
$479,000; Sullivan, $438,000), which is nothing short of phenomenal. Historically,
no challenger has come close to raising the same amount as an incumbent.
South County residents
conducted a well-organized fund-raising drive for Sullivan. Contributions
were raised mostly from individuals in Mission Viejo, El Toro, Laguna Hills,
Lake Forest and other South County communities. More than 1,300 citizens
from South County made campaign contributions; 90% never before had done
so in a county election. Most contributions were in the range of $150 to
$500. Altogether these contributors gave $366,000 to Sullivan, which accounted
for 84% of his total campaign funds. This is a precedent in the history
of Orange County supervisorial elections; no other candidate for supervisor
has raised that kind of money from the general public.
By contrast, incumbent
Silva raised 30% of his funds from the usual contingent of developers,
in $1,000 increments--the maximum allowed under the county's TINCUP campaign
law. The development industry gave Silva $143,000 and they gave Sullivan
absolutely nothing.
Although South County
residents participated in large numbers on the Sullivan campaign, Silva
also received funds from 300 first-time contributors from the Corona del
Mar, Balboa and Newport Beach communities. These were people who were concerned
about the expansion of John Wayne Airport and wanted to retain Silva because
of his pro-El Toro airport stance. These individuals contributed about
15% (or $69,325) of Silva's total campaign funds, considerably less than
the 84% (or $366,000) received by Sullivan from South County individuals.
Even though Silva
eventually won reelection after being forced into a runoff, the citizens
of South County are to be congratulated for a victory of another sort.
They accomplished the impossible by raising as much money as the incumbent
and they did it without the financial help of the development industry.
They are now part
of the recognized power base (translate to "source of funds") for political
campaigns. Other supervisors are tapping them for funds, as evidenced by
the most recent campaign disclosure statements filed by anti-airport Supervisors
Todd Spitzer and Tom Wilson. Both list contributions from many of the same
individuals who gave to Sullivan in the 1998 elections.
The future use of
El Toro is still undecided and that is obviously the reason many of the
South County people are still making contributions to supervisorial campaigns.
It will be up to them, however, to maintain a presence in county politics
even after the future of El Toro is decided, or they will become a mere
footnote as a one-time phenomenon in the history of Orange County.
The development industry
has dominated the elections of county supervisors for far too long, resulting
in a board whose members have been very dependent on developers for their
campaign funds. This has cast doubt on some of the controversial decisions
made by the board.
If members of the
public wants to change this scenario, they must step up to the plate with
their campaign contributions. The only other alternative is total public
financing, which is not likely to happen in ultraconservative Orange County.
Shirley Grindle Is a Former County Planning
Commissioner and Has Monitored Supervisors' Campaigns Since 1978. She Wrote
the Tincup Reform Ordinance
