The Insider meets the Leahy Brothers, OC’s top transit siblings

The name “Leahy” may soon be synonymous with “transportation” in Orange County. That’s because Arthur Leahy (named two weeks ago by the OCBJ as “person to watch” in transportation for 2001) is coming from the Metro Transit in Minneapolis to take over as chief executive of the Orange County Transportation Authority. Leahy’s younger brother, Mike Leahy, is already here, as director of toll road operations for the Transportation Corridor Agencies. The Leahy boys grew up in LA, the sons of street car operators. (Mom and dad met on the job during World War II, when women were being hired as drivers.) The brothers previously worked at the Los Angeles MTA; Arthur, a former bus driver himself, was the agency’s executive officer for operations Paone Callahan McHolm & Winton had a good run as a real estate practice,18 years, a 14-lawyer force and nice digs on the eighth floor of The Atrium building in Irvine. But growing management differences have led to the firm’s dissolution, with the name partners going three different ways. Steve McHolm and Dan Winton have moved to Snell & Wilmer, Tim Paone has joined The Irvine Company and Bob Callahan is setting up a solo practice. “It was a natural break point, with the lease coming up,” McHolm said With the Democrats out of the White House, will Loretta Sanchez’ star decline in Congress? Not necessarily. As a “moderate,” she could become a critical swing vote, wooed by both parties Observation from the noprofit circuit: Curt Pringle is a fine speaker, but Gaddi Vasquez is a better auctioneer What do Milton Berle, Buzz Aldrin, Buddy Ebsen, Stan Freberg and the late Steve Allen have in common? They all provided cover blurbs for Fleetwood Enterprises founder John Crean’s terrific autobiography, “The Wheel and I,” co-written by OC Weekly’s Jim Washburn (available at www.hotrange.com) Hard to believe, but there is life after being an editor of the OCBJ. Former ME Jerry Sullivan is now owner/editor of the weekly Garment & Citizen in LA’s fashion district, and he has become editor and J.C. Choe’s partner in the monthly Pacific Textile News, which is being relaunched as a bilingual English-Korean pub