THOMAS W. WILSON

Chairman

Orange County Board of Supervisors

  July 18, 2003

Ms. Bev Perry, President

Southern California Association of Governments

818 W. Seventh Street, 17^th Floor (Main Office)

Los Angeles, CA 90017

Dear Ms. Perry:

This letter is to comment on what appear to be continuing efforts to retain Orange County Supervisor Chuck Smith as 1^st Vice-President of the Southern California Association of Governments.

Supervisor Smith was removed as the SCAG representative of Orange County and replaced by Supervisor Chris Norby on June 17, 2003 by the majority vote of our Board of Supervisors. This was not a simple situation of someone's term of office running out. He was removed from the appointed position to which I had named him because he had broken a commitment made at the time of his appointment. He failed to fully represent the wishes of our Board, and the majority of the electorate of our County, on the critical issue of local control over El Toro reuse.

Under SCAG bylaws, Article VI C. Supervisor Smith "immediately" lost his position as a SCAG Vice-President. Under the Article, 2^nd Vice-President Ron Roberts should have assumed the 1^st vice-presidency automatically. Even if some other entity such as the Orange County Transportation Authority were to join the Regional Council and select Supervisor Smith to represent it, he lost the 1^st vice-presidency on June 17 and that position is no longer his.

To retroactively rewrite or reinterpret the bylaws differently is an assault on every member government's right to determine who represents it at SCAG.

SCAG is first and foremost an "Association of Governments", not of individuals. This issue is not about Supervisor Smith as an individual. I respect him as a colleague and for the work that he has done for Orange County, for SCAG, and for other agencies.

Unfortunately, Supervisor Smith publicly endorsed an effort by the City of Los Angeles to take control of land in Orange County to be operated as an airport contrary to the vote of the Board of Supervisors of Orange County and an initiative adopted by the voters of the County. Regardless of how anyone feels about El Toro reuse, this is an issue of local land use control.

In February, I told the SCAG Aviation Task Force that Orange County supports local control over such land use issues. Supervisor Smith, by his public statements in the press, does not. Therefore, he no longer can represent our County at SCAG.

Any attempt to change or circumvent the rules, by which SCAG operates, for the benefit of an individual, is to undermine each city, county or agency's exclusive right to determine who shall be its representative. It is a step down a slippery slope to allowing persons who are recalled, removed, or voted out of office to continue as SCAG officers.

Should the SCAG leadership unwisely decide to agendize an attempt to retain Supervisor Smith as 1^st Vice-President, then I request that this letter be included in the meeting packet for each representative.

Sincerely,

THOMAS W. Wilson

Chairman of the Board

Cc: Members of the Board, Orange County Board of Supervisors