January 20, 2004

Mr. Tod Ridgeway
Mayor, Newport Beach
PO Box 1768
Newport Beach, CA 92658-8915

Dear Tod:

Thank you for your letter requesting a meeting with County representatives regarding the City’s "sphere issues".
As Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, I am constantly seeking new ideas to save money for the County while still providing the level of service our community expects and deserves. And now, given the State’s continued budget deficit and the still uncertain solutions outlined by the Governor, we must be even more vigilant and create more efficiency and effectiveness in an already lean government.

As you’re probably aware, my colleagues and I just adopted the new reorganized county structure. Under my direction, our CEO developed this new structure which consolidates departments where necessary to eliminate duplication of efforts, separates responsibilities to allow for closer oversight in some areas, and creates a new level of Deputies to increase management effectiveness. This action is also expected to save the County over $500K annually. In addition to these types of changes, we would be interested in meeting with you and your designees to discuss other possibilities in which Orange County can be more effective for the community.

Among the sphere issues you mentioned, we are willing to meet and discuss the Santa Ana Heights Redevelopment Area/Plan, the Coyote Canyon Landfill, and the County Tidelands. Also mentioned in your request is a discussion on oversight of John Wayne Airport. You cite issues such as proximity, use of JWA and importance to local economy as reasons to consider a sphere shift. However, there are a number of other cities which could make similar and additional findings as well. We appreciate your apparent willingness to find ways to better the County, but it is my strong belief that John Wayne Airport remain as a core business of the county. This opinion has been informally echoed by many of my colleagues over the past few weeks, and I have therefore decided it would be inappropriate to discuss this issue. Including JWA would only detract us from other potentially feasible discussions.

Our CEO will be working with your staff to set a meeting date and time. We look forward to meeting with you on the three issues identified above.

Sincerely,
 
Tom Wilson
Chairman of the Board

Cc:     Board of Supervisors
    Mr. Jim Ruth, CEO
    Mr. Ben DeMayo, County Counsel