Room at Top in County Law Enforcement

The administration of law enforcement in Orange County is poised for an unprecedented shake-up this year as two incumbents with six decades of county service between them prepare to leave office without the comfort of anointed successors ready to face voters in June.

That wasn’t the case last fall, when Sheriff Brad Gates announced that he wouldn’t seek reelection to the job he’s had for 24 years. Beside him was his preferred replacement, Assistant Sheriff Douglas D. Storm. When Dist. Atty. Mike Capizzi began holding fund-raisers for statewide office in December, two assistant district attorneys had announced interest in his job, though insiders believed Capizzi favored assistant Brent Romney.

Storm lasted six weeks before pulling out, saying he couldn’t stomach the nitty-gritty of campaigning. Romney, battered by criticism that he’d researched an opponent’s record using county resources, last week terminated his campaign committee. He was unavailable for comment Friday but told supporters he was quitting for health reasons.

The open fields in these two key countywide posts upend decades of practiced politics in Orange County. Heirs apparent usually have been groomed to continue the leadership of retiring officials, as was the case with Gates’ first campaign in 1974. Other officials resigned so their preferred successors could run as incumbents, as was the case with Capizzi’s election in 1990.

“Generally, incumbents like having an heir apparent, especially in Orange County,” said political consultant Harvey Englander, who has handled dozens of county races. “If anything, this can be declared a case of real open government. Politically, it changes everything.”

Left in the sheriff’s race is Marshal Michael S. Carona and Santa Ana Police Chief Paul M. Walters, both of whom have criticized Gates’ management. Remaining in the district attorney’s race is Superior Court Judge Anthony Rackauckas Jr., a Capizzi critic, and Assistant Dist. Atty. Wallace J. Wade, who, though an office insider, circulated a critical memo last fall to deputy district attorneys promising a new management style.

The lack of anointed candidates leading into the start of active campaigning levels the playing field and creates opportunities for candidates to reach out beyond traditional support bases, said Amin David, head of Los Amigos of Orange County. David has endorsed Carona and Wade.

“We think there’s finally a real chance to impact the law enforcement arena in Orange County,” David said. “We don’t have to deal with candidates who already have been chosen by those in power. It’s a stroke of destiny.”

The two open races come at a time of resurging interest in law and order and public safety. Residents rated crime as the top public policy problem in UC Irvine’s Annual Survey released in December.

This should be a perfect time for a unique countywide discussion about how the public believes the top crime offices should be managed, said UCI political science professor Mark P. Petracca. Instead, with crime statistics dropping not only countywide but across the state, voters are less likely to demand radical changes in the way the offices are run, he said.

Without public pressure for change, “the campaigns are going to be run generally more in terms of personalities than policies,” Petracca said. “The public isn’t ripe or ready or more interested in the kinds of conversations we could be having witnessing the momentous departure of two of the longest-serving public officials in Orange County. We’re going to be missing out.”

Supervisor Todd Spitzer, a former deputy district attorney who has faulted Capizzi’s leadership, said the two races present an opportunity for new leaders to start fresh in the offices without the loyalties and grudges that tend to linger, passed on from an outgoing mentor to the chosen successor.

“It’s very hard to give up those loyalties and it makes it very difficult for a new leader to truly lead independently with a style consistent for what’s needed today, as opposed to what was needed in the past,” Spitzer said. “When you have an heir apparent, they tend to deal with the same people in the same way.”

But the lack of identified successors also means voters will be faced with relatively unknown candidates struggling to fully present their respective visions. That will make the presence of endorsements even more powerful, said Englander--particularly if Capizzi and Gates eventually decide to endorse.

“These kinds of races always come down to who’s endorsing who,” Petracca agreed. “For candidates running without significant name recognition, people are going to be looking to people they know to tell them how to vote.”

Englander said other candidates may emerge in the races and voters probably won’t give any candidate a majority in June, meaning the top two challengers would face off in November. The period for candidates to begin filing nomination papers begins next month and ends March 11.