Jim Silva: Will history repeat itself?

Jenifer Ragland

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- Orange County Supervisor Jim Silva is finding himself

in a familiar, though perhaps uncomfortable, situation:

At odds with public opinion.

Early in his political career, he was confronted with a voting population

that did not approve of his stand on a controversial development. Defying

all expectations at the time, he switched his position and became the

swing vote to kill the plan.

Now that Measure F has passed in a landslide victory -- and in his own

district by as much as 59% -- will Silva sway from the county board’s

strong 3-2 majority in favor of El Toro?

The quick answer is no, but there is evidence that Silva is unafraid to

switch sides and conform to what appears to be the will of the people.

Almost exactly nine years ago, as a councilman in the city, he was faced

with a critical vote on the controversial Pierside Village project -- a

proposal to build a $20-million restaurant complex on the beach near Main

Street.

The project was so hated by the city’s residents that it sparked an

initiative drive, Measure C, which passed in November 1990 with nearly 75% of the vote. The ballot measure -- a distant cousin to Measure F --

required a majority public vote before anything could be built on city

beaches or in city parks.

At the time, the City Council had a solid four-member pro-development

majority, of which Silva was a leader. In July 1991, Pierside Village

came down to the final vote. Yes or no. Approve the lease for the

beachfront land -- and then face a citywide vote -- or reject the

development.

After a lengthy public hearing came the deciding moment. And Silva,

expected to vote yes along with his pro-growth colleagues, surprisingly

switched his stance and cast a no vote.

The vote stunned Silva’s supporters and critics alike.

“Some of the business leaders were surprised at the decision,” said

Councilman Peter Green, who also opposed Pierside Village. “I see nothing

wrong with a person changing his mind. In fact, I respected Jim for

that.”

Later, Silva explained that with Measure C, the populous had spoken. At

the time, he quoted his favorite president, Abraham Lincoln, as saying:

“Elected officials are to do for the citizens what they cannot do for

themselves in their own individual capacity.”

Fast-forward a decade later. Silva, now a veteran county supervisor, is

one of a three-member pro-El Toro airport majority on the board. A few

years ago, most of Silva’s district also favored a second county airport

at El Toro.

But now, things are a bit different. Measure F, the initiative floated by

South County activists trying to derail the airport plan, passed Tuesday

by nearly a 2-to-1 margin. According to a Times Orange County analysis

published this week, even in Silva’s district -- normally neutral

territory on the airport debate -- voters overwhelmingly favored the

measure. Measure F was only defeated narrowly in one of his district’s

cities -- Costa Mesa voted it down by 51% -- according to the analysis.

So the question is: Will Silva again make a dramatic switch and heed the

call of the voters?

The answer, for now at least, is no.

“I think the voice of the voters is very important, and I will support

Measure F,” Silva said last week. “But I think you have to consider that

this makes the third vote, and it’s not the last vote.”

He also said he can’t be sure Measure F’s victory means the majority of

residents don’t want the airport at El Toro.

“I voted against the Pierside Village project because I felt a majority

of people didn’t want it. In this case, it’s not clear,” Silva said.

“Even the supporters of Measure F admit this had more to do with the

public’s voice in planning process than in approval of jails or

airports.”

Still, Silva has not proposed any changes to that process. Immediately

after the vote, he and board chairman Chuck Smith said publicly that they

must continue on and that the results of Measure F “won’t affect an

airport at El Toro.”

Huntington Beach activist Debbie Cook was among those who pushed for

Measure C and who lobbied the City Council at the time to reject the

Pierside Village development.

She said she is opposed to the airport and believes the majority of

residents in the city feel the same way -- not because it’s an emotional

fight for them, but simply because they wouldn’t use it and don’t feel

they need it.

“It’s a real shame that these guys are led around by the nostrils by

developers,” Cook said.

“What do you suggest I do?” Silva responded. With Measure A -- the 1994

initiative that started the airport planning process -- still in effect,

he said his hands are tied.

Making matters more complicated, one area of his district, Costa Mesa,

supports the airport plan -- albeit narrowly, according to Measure F

results. And while Newport Beach is outside of his district, the bulk of

the donations from his 1998 campaign against Councilman Dave Sullivan

came from Newport Beach pro-airport forces.

As for what Silva should do next, South County officials have some ideas.

“Anything can be fixed, but the county has to change the way it does

business and start telling the truth,” said Meg Waters, spokeswoman for

the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority. “The process can’t be fixed with

more PR.”

She added that Measure A doesn’t require the county approve a bad airport

plan, which is what she contends it is.

Leonard Kranser, who helped lead the campaign for Measure F, said the

county paid for its past mistakes Tuesday when the initiative won its

landslide victory. And rather than simply dismiss the loss, county

officials should find the lesson, he said.

“Everything they have done has been politically motivated, without regard

to legitimate concerns of the surrounding community,” Kranser said.

“Silva’s up for reelection in two years, and I think he would do well to

go with his constituents on this issue,” he added.

Mark Petracca, chairman of the political science department and professor

at UC Irvine, said Silva’s situation goes to an inherent contradiction in

democratic theory.

“The contradiction is between the expectation that leaders will follow

and the expectation that leaders will lead,” he said. “The question is,

under what conditions are leaders more likely to follow, and under what

conditions will the public expect their leaders to lead?”

The outdated answer to that quandary is for leaders to be close to their

constituents, so that they will act how an average constituent would act,

Petracca said.

While modern campaign financing has changed all that, it doesn’t mean a

leader can’t break with recent tradition.

“This could very well be a rare opportunity for Silva to behave like a

statesman and provide leadership for the board, driven by an overwhelming

expression of constituent support for Measure F,” Petracca said. “Silva

doesn’t have to be a weather vane. This was not a public opinion poll,

this was an election.”

But Bruce Nestande, president of Citizens for Jobs & the Economy -- which

spearheaded the No on F campaign -- maintains that Silva should stand by

his position on the airport.

“Measure F, regardless of what the antiairport people want to claim at

this point, was not a clear referendum against the airport,” Nestande

said. “People had a smorgasbord of issues on which to vote. How one could

conclude that this is an antiairport vote mystifies me.”

He added that antiairport forces admitted publicly that they crafted

Measure F to gain more support in north Orange County, where voters may

not have turned down another initiative strictly on the airport.

“They chose not to make it just an up or down on the airport, and now

that they won, they are saying that it was all about the airport,” he

said. “I don’t accept that, and I don’t think Jim Silva will accept

that.”

To that, Kranser said if Measure F wasn’t about El Toro, then why was it

that Newport Beach -- clearly the most pro-El Toro area in the county --

was also one of only two cities to defeat the measure?

As the debate rages on, Waters suggested Silva take this piece of advice

from his favorite president: “As long as government tells the truth, the

country is safe.”