They should have had an election!

Should any tragic event, natural disaster or resignation
cause it necessary to replace anyone or all members on the
OC Board of Supervisors….according to the Orange County
Charter….....they have to have a public election!

Why then, when it came to the replacement of the Sheriff
- also an elected office, was an election not required?
This is a huge failure of a system that rewards….in this
case…the Board of Supervisors with the selection of a
replacement for a Public Elective Office! This is a very
serious flaw in our system of government. Had Sheriff
Carona stepped down and resigned for any reason prior to
the completion of his term…..there should have been a
required election! Whether any of us are pleased with
the person to be selected by the Supervisors…matters not.
This is a flawed process that needs fixing because
“the people” are ones being left out! Those in power
flaunt their muscles by simply saying that we live in a
“Representative Government System”! Which is true...with
the exception of the fact, that we do get to vote for
those Representatives……each and every one of them! The
OC Sheriff is elected so that a “good old boy network”
doesn’t find it so easy to control that office!

In the City of Newport Beach over the last five years
…..this same system has been utilized to have members
of the standing City Council replace members that
either resigned early or left without cause. The result
has been a system of perpetual selection. Councilmember
Gary Proctor(who recently committed suicide) resigned..
a few years back and was replaced by a Council Selected
candidate named Steve Rosansky! Councilman Gary Adams
then resigned early and was replaced by Lesie Daigle.
Keith Curry replaced a resigning John Heffernan….and so
it goes! As anyone might guess…this gave those selected
by the other standing members of the City Council “full
incumbent status” in the following election cycle. Each
and every one was then easily re-elected in the next
regular election cycle…many serving upwards of three
years plus on the resigning members term…then still
being elegible for two more full terms: thus slipping
by our term limits of two four year stints - serving up
to 11 years in some cases!

The current selection process of a new OC Sheriff for
all intense purposes follows this same flawed concept
of promoting “whoever the power structure wants”! "The
people"…are virtually left out of the process. We need
to change the Orange County Charter to suggest that any
“elected office official” that resigns or leaves because
of health or any other considerations should be replaced
by a required election at the next available election
cycle or in some cases “a special election”..as is the
case for the Board of Supervisors. If anyone didn’t
notice, the June 3rd Primary Election would have been a
perfect fit to have “the people” select the next Sheriff
rather than leaving that choice of an “incumbent” to
the Board of Supervisors.

What about our Assessor? What about Treasurer? Which
elected offices do you believe should be replaced by
and selected by the Board of Supervisors?