2007 starts with some unfinished business from November’s election.
On Feb. 6, voters are set to pick an Orange County Board of Supervisors replacement for Lou Correa, who was elected to the state Senate in November.
Correa was the only Democrat on the board, and Republicans aim to take it back.
There are a lot of potential candidates in the wings for the seat representing Santa Ana, Westminster, part of Garden Grove and some county-administered areas in central OC.
Early candidates include Santa Ana Councilman Carlos Bustamante and Garden Grove Councilwoman Janet Nguyen, both Republicans.
As for Democrats, Garden Grove Councilman Mark Rosen is the only candidate so far. Termed-out Assemblyman Tom Umberg could jump in.
The winner is set to join a board focused on cost cutting, a tone likely to be set by incoming supervisor and former county treasurer John Moorlach. Things could get contentious.
Governments across the county are set to deal with the results of November’s election in 2007.
In Anaheim, dominant Mayor Curt Pringle has a familiar, yet less friendly, face on the council: Lucille Kring, who ran against Pringle four years ago and served on the council from 1998 to 2002.
Kring and Pringle agree on plans for an Anaheim transportation hub. But she was a critic of the mayor’s losing legal fight with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
In Fullerton, the defeat of Mayor Leland Wilson pushed back to 2007 a vote on a condominium and stores project in the city’s teeming downtown.
The council now is expected to vote on the project in January, with newcomer Pam Keller, who campaigned on slower, “more responsible” growth.
Next door in Yorba Linda, the council starts 2007 with two newcomers, Jan Horton and John Anderson, who ran on low-density development and in opposition to the prior council’s bid to redevelop the city’s downtown.
Tustin, which is overseeing the redevelopment of the city’s former Marine base, has what observers call a pro-business council with the re-election of Councilman Dave Davert and the election of Orange County Rescue Mission President Jim Palmer.
The county, long an ATM for federal candidates of both parties, should see a steady stream of presidential hopefuls in 2007, particularly GOPers John McCain, Rudolph Giuliani and Mitt Romney.
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ISSUE TO WATCH: TRANSPORTATION
Transportation is a top priority in Orange County every year, but it should be an especially hot topic in 2007.
For starters, Measure M has been renewed through 2041, and that means the Orange County Transportation Authority can move confidently ahead with plans to improve and increase the county’s road capacity. Look for officials to sell bonds against projected future revenue (nearly $12 billion over 30 years) to jump-start projects and keep intact Measure M’s reputation for completing projects on time and under budget.
But critics will be keeping a close eye on OCTA, waiting to see if attempts to use new Measure M mass-transit dollars to revive by another name its controversial and ill-fated Centerline light-rail project.
The county also expects several hundred million dollars from the governor’s infrastructure bonds. At the top of the project list: widening the Riverside (91) Freeway and carpool connectors for the San Diego (I-405) Freeway.
The most controversy is likely to focus on two projects in South County.
Toll road officials are ready to roll with a 16-mile, $875 million extension of the 241 to Interstate 5 just south of San Clemente. The project is backed by most local political leaders and has won some key regulatory approvals. But it is opposed by surfers, environmental groups and the state attorney general, who have sued to stop it.
,Rick Reiff
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POLITICIAN TO WATCH: LORETTA SANCHEZ
The congresswoman from central Orange County (Santa Ana, Ana-heim, Garden Grove) long has been a symbol,of emerging Hispanic political power, of the increasing role of women in government, and, as the person who unseated Bob Dornan and won re-election five times, of a Democratic toehold in Republican-dominated OC.
With her party taking control for the first time since she entered Congress in 1996, this will be the year Sanchez is expected to take a leadership role.
Although her “Blue Dog” politics are more centrist than those of liberal House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Sanchez is known for getting along well with Pelosi,voting against her at times on policy, but supporting her on leadership issues.
With Pelosi’s blessing, Sanchez is set to become chair of the subcommittee on economic security, infrastructure protection and cyber security,the largest Homeland Security subcommittee.
,Rick Reiff
