Charter Committee on Wrong Path

* Orange County could be an example to the rest of California if it established a charter that:

1. Provided for more representation of the constituency and less control by the lobbyists.

2. Enacted term limits, capped campaign funding and provided stricter accountability.

3. Limited the power of the bureaucracy by establishing citizens’ committees selected by lot to oversee all functions of government.

4. Downsized county operations and allowed for open competition between the public and private sectors to obtain the most cost-effective services.

However, that is not the way the former bureaucracy people, the former politicos and some appointments (the Orange County Charter Committee) are headed.

They seek only five full-time supervisors with a strong bureaucratic leader, purposefully avoiding micromanagement from either the elected representatives or the people.

Do not forget “the lost days” when former Supervisor Thomas F. Riley said, “I did not know what Bob Citron was doing, but he sure made us money.”

Government, as usual, is what you are obtaining if you accept the current recommendations of the Charter Committee. Measure R was soundly defeated; so also will be the proposed charter.

THOMAS M. WHALING

Irvine