Here is another roundup of some of the most thought-provoking reader comments from the week that was. The comments are selected by our editors and subject to editing for grammar, spelling and length.
More Terms for Supervisors?
Aren’t they all Republicans? Aren’t Republicans always the ones pushing for term limits? Remember the national elections back in the ’90s and the “Contract with America”? Peculiar that many of the politicians that signed that document are still in office.
I know this was not a local issue, but it all goes to show Republicans will say anything to get into office and say anything else to stay in that office.
I believe I live in Moorlach’s district, and I will be happy to help vote him out.
— Dweezle / Feb. 26
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I strongly support a three-term limit for supervisors. Change and reform take sustained effort. When those like Moorlach demonstrate their commitment to fiscal responsibility and the voters, that they know the ropes and have developed the relationships, we need the opportunity to let them continue doing the job for us.
If we don’t like the job they’re doing, we can vote them out. If we like the job that any elected official is doing, we should be able to reap the benefits of a known quantity. This applies not only to the Board of Supervisors but to all elected offices with the exception of U.S. president.
— Steve W / Feb. 25
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Eight years of sustained effort aren’t enough?
It’s an all-Republican Board of Supervisors. They can pretty much do what their hearts desire and have for some time now. Perhaps if John Moorlach hadn’t wasted time supporting [former Sheriff] Mike Carona and [former Treasurer-Tax Collector] Chriss Street as well as a horribly misguided pension reform lawsuit, he would have had time to make more changes.
This is a cheap attempt to extend his office, and cloaking it in weak rhetoric doesn’t make it any less slimy.
— Don Draper / Feb. 26
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I could see term limits being extended at the state level just for the reasons Moorlach mentioned. But county supervisors should not be viewing their positions from the long term. They are truly the citizen politicians who should do their civic duty and then leave office to go back to their real jobs.
— Keepdapeace / Feb. 24
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I couldn’t agree more with Jon Fleischman about the extension of term limits proposed by John Moorlach.
Term limits have worked very well at the local level, but at the state level they have become simply “musical chairs” for termed-out officials. Termed-out state officials bring their campaign war chests (money raised primarily from PACs all over the country) to run for local offices, which gives them a tremendous financial advantage over local candidates.
Plus, state term limits have increased the influence of lobbyists at the state level, because lobbyists are not term-limited.
— Shirley Grindle / Feb. 29
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I support two terms: one in office, one in prison.
— Mukooh / Feb. 25
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County’s ‘Toxic’ Office Building
I have posted many times my feelings about unions, particularly in the public sector, but this time I have to agree with that Lisa gal [Lisa Major, assistant director of the Orange County Employees Association]: The county’s actions are disgusting!
— Truevoice / Feb. 28
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[County CEO] Tom Mauk claims he’s concerned for the safety of these county employees, yet it took lawsuits and threats of lawsuits to motivate him to act.
The only way to get the CEO and Board of Supervisors to move is to hit them in the wallet, even when employees are threatened with deadly cancer. Disgusting.
— OC Bureaucrat / Feb. 28
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It’s been reported that the perchloreothene vapors found in the soil were within EPA guidelines, so let’s not jump to conclusions here.
If you took random soil samples from around Orange County, 50 percent of them or more would probably contain some sort of “carcinogen.”
And where did it say that perc causes autoimmune disorders or birth defects?
— Beelzebub / Feb. 28
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Grilling the City Manager
What did Bob Wigenroth [interrim city manager of Anaheim] actually do wrong? Disagree with this crazy amount of money giveaway. Murray, Sidhu and Eastman voted for it. They should be investigated, to say the least.
— Bongor / Feb. 28
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What kind of person, let alone a council member, should be allowed to strut such arrogance? This is nothing short of a direct attempt to intimidate and threaten the job of the city manager, interim or not.
Bob Wigenroth’s job is to oversee and manage the affairs, services and financial business of our city in the best interest of its citizens, not to blow sunshine recommendations up the skirts of the City Council. Shame, shame on you, Kris Murray.
— Heyitsjack / March 1
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Step Up, County Government
No thanks.
Counties are incredibly archaic political subdivisions which now exist almost exclusively to deliver state services locally.
If we want do a mental experiment about the best way to make substantive changes to improve California government, we would start by breaking the state up into several smaller states and eliminating counties completely.
But that, like your proposal, is not going to happen.
So perhaps we should focus on doing the one thing that would make local government work much better — finding a different agency than our politicized local district attorney to prosecute corruption and conflict of interest.
— Moonunit / Feb. 27
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One Broadway Plaza
Dear Michael Harrah,
Don’t let all these government and community-imposed obstacles get you down. Keep your eye on the ball and never give up. One day in the not-so-distant future, you will be standing atop your One Broadway Plaza building reflecting with pride on the vision you had over 10 years ago. All the nay-sayers will have retreated back into their caves to lie in wait for the next pioneer to shoot arrows into.
Keep up the good work, Mike. Let me know when the ribbon-cutting ceremony will be, because I want to be there applauding you with all the rest of us who appreciate your representation of the American Dream.
— Bill Taormina / Feb. 25