The view from Newport Beach

From the Newport - Costa Mesa Daily Pilot, May 15, 1998

Pilot news is available on-line at: http://www.latimes.com/HOME/COMMUN/PAPERS/PILOT/NEWS/

Supervisor Silva misses candidates forum
Many district voters also were no-shows, apparently preferring to watch last episode of 'Seinfeld' instead. Three challengers square off.
By TIM GRENDA

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- Three of the four contenders for the Orange County Board of Supervisors' 2nd District seat showed up Thursday night for a candidates' forum and the absence of the incumbent didn't go unnoticed. First-term Supervisor Jim Silva was a no-show for the forum, which was sponsored by the Orange Coast chapter of League of Women Voters, but Huntington Beach City Councilman Dave Sullivan, former Costa Mesa Mayor Sandy Genis and Huntington Beach activist Ralph Silva all attended.

"I personally would never thumb my nose at the process by not attending an event like this," Sullivan said. League officials said they extended an invitation to the forum to all the candidates, but Jim Silva failed to attend.

Without the incumbent, the three challengers outlined their positions for a live audience of about 20 people -- a crowd that was no doubt thinned by some tough competition, the series finale of the television show "Seinfeld."

The debate was shown live in Huntington Beach on the city's cable access station and will be repeated several times before the June 2 primary election.

Sullivan, Genis and Ralph Silva were in general agreement with each other and joined in opposition against the incumbent on at least two of the most controversial issues facing the 2nd District and all of Orange County. Jim Silva, who is the county board chairman, voted for the Koll Real Estate Group's plans to build thousands of homes in and around the Bolsa Chica wetlands and is also part of the board majority in favor of converting the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station into an international commercial airport when the base closes next summer.

Genis, a member of the Bolsa Chica Land Trust, which is fighting to prevent any building around the wetlands, said the county owes it to future generations to preserve as much open space as it can. "I can't think of any greater legacy to leave," she said.

Ralph Silva, a retired district attorney's investigator and admitted political newcomer, said county officials are lying to the public about the impacts an El Toro commercial airport would have on South County. "When was the last time you heard about people clamoring to buy land by the Los Angeles International Airport?" he asked. "Folks, it's just not true."

Sullivan, who served alongside and was often at odds with Jim Silva on the Huntington Beach City Council, said the incumbent and the board have let the public down on some of the most basic duties of government. "We are becoming 'pothole county,'" Sullivan said. "I realize things are tough in the bankruptcy aftermath ... but there are basic needs of government that must be undertaken."

Silva will get another chance to debate his fellow candidates during a forum at noon on May 27 at the Mesa Verde Country Club, 3000 Club House Road, which is sponsored by the Rotary Club of Costa Mesa.