Called Anti-Intellectual Frontier Society : Grand Juror Faults County’s Attitudes

Orange County--despite its mirrored business towers and upscale shopping malls--is still a frontier society made up of self-made individuals, protected by a John Wayne-type sheriff and sneering at intellectuals, a member of the 1986-87 Orange County Grand Jury said Friday.

One consequence of the self-made county is a lack of concern for “have-nots,” said Ralph Bauer, 57, one of four speakers at a League of Women Voters seminar to ascertain the future of Orange County government.

He said about county residents: “They say, ‘I made it, why can’t they?’ There’s no tradition of giving here.”

Another consequence of the self-made county is a government based on intellectual thought but operating in an anti-intellectual environment, he said: “Government in general is unable to respond to the constituency.”

In frustration, people are signing petitions and drafting initiatives such as Orange County’s slow-growth initiative, he said.

In his speech, Bauer also restated criticisms of county government contained in the Grand Jury’s report, which targeted the supervisors’ undelegated management style, hiring policies and terms of office.

According to the report, supervisors should be limited to two terms, should hire more minorities and women in management positions and should delegate more power to the county administrative officer.

Each supervisor is in charge of five to eight employees, a dozen agency or department heads and 85 boards and commissions, Bauer said. “There’s no delegation of that.”

Declines Comment on Role

Larry Parrish, the county administrative officer for the last two years, said agency and department heads report directly to supervisors and not to him, as they would if he were a chief executive officer in private industry. He declined to comment on whether his role should change.

Bauer also denounced a lack of consistent long-range planning in county departments and agencies. “If it exists at all, it’s not integrated with the budget process,” he said.

About 50 members of the league attended the seminar. They chuckled at Bauer’s suggestion that public officials be publicly graded on their improvement in physical stamina, people skills, motivation, flexibility, responsibility and other things.

Roger Stanton, chairman of the Board of Supervisors, admitted that “Orange County supervisors aren’t perfect” but defended county officials and said parts of the grand jury’s report were based on “clear ignorance.” Those recommendations insinuating county government could learn from the private sector stemmed from Claremont Graduate School and Pomona College professors of psychology and management who had been hired as consultants by the jury. Stanton, a former professor of management at California State University, Long Beach, cited another report in which professors from UC Irvine and the University of Minnesota concluded that public managers should not be evaluated by standards of the private sector.

Supervisors’ Constraints

“Many people ignore the context and constraints in public management,” Stanton said. For example, county officials draft their budget before legislators in Sacramento and Washington. Thus, they cannot plan on state and federal funds for certain programs and projects.

Delegating “responsibility” to the CAO would “break the line of accountability from the electorate,” Stanton said: “If you’re responsible, you’re responsible. You can’t delegate responsibility to a non-elected person. It’s the worst form of government.”

Contrary to the implication of the grand jury report, the county government has been implementing recommendations made two years ago by a management consultant, Stanton said.

On Thursday, 150 county managers met to discuss how to continue management development in lean economic times, he said. “We discussed a management academy concept in which managers will be able to determine their weak areas and seek help in those areas.”

Stanton also suggested that Orange County residents may appear to donate less to charities, but many who work in Los Angeles and give to the United Way through their work are counted as Los Angeles residents.

Stanton and Bauer agreed that more of the county’s best and brightest should apply for the grand jury. Just 200 residents apply for the 19 spots open on the two-year panel. Stanton said he would also support 18-month staggered terms for grand jurors to ensure continuity on the panel.

The Grand Jury also recommended:

- More long-term planning from the Sheriff’s Department. The sheriff has made a “scapegoat” out of the supervisors over the jail problem, Bauer said. “The sheriff is at least as responsible as the Board of Supervisors for the failure of that system.”

- Analyses of a possible conflict of interest by the county counsel who represents both the grand jury and the county supervisors and employees they review, of whether the number of executive assistants is appropriate and of the effectiveness of the county’s lobbyists.

Jim Cooper, the host of a KOCE-TV program on Orange County, noted that the county had grown in complexity as well as population and economic health. In the 1950s, a supervisor could explain the details of any single public works project. By contrast, the contractor for the $297-million expansion of John Wayne Airport needs three subcontractors to map out the plans.

“Government itself is the second or third largest business in the county,” he said. “We’re all in this together. To say it’s up to five supervisors is missing the point.”

County Supervisor Thomas F. Riley, who had dropped in with fellow supervisors Don R. Roth and Gaddi H. Vasquez, called out to Cooper: “Thanks!”