Chairman showing disrespect

Contribbuted
Published: August 28, 2008

To the editor,
I believe on August 12, 2008, Orange County’s Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, Mark Johnson, crossed a line that should never be approached by the chair of any governing body. That’s when he maliciously and scandalously attacked Teri Pace, a fellow supervisor who represents the county’s fourth district who is the vice-chair of the board of supervisors and is liaison between the BOS and planning commission with intentionally misleading the planning commission about the board’s intentions as they pertain to the rewriting of the county’s zoning ordinance. When you charge someone with “intentionally misleading,” you essentially are calling them dishonest and a liar. What purpose would Mrs. Pace possibly have to intentionally mislead the planning commission? There is no way that she would have thought that a misrepresentation would go by unnoticed. She claimed to have support from fellow supervisors Burkett and Frame. I, for one, believe that she felt that she did indeed have that support because, above all else, Mrs. Pace is an honest and honorable person. Further, if this discussion needed to take place, it should have been done one-on-one in a private setting.
The position of “chairman” of any body has the obligation to treat all members with respect. The chairman of an elected government body has an additional obligation to respect the constituents of the members of that body. I believe Mr. Johnson’s actions showed contempt and disrespect for all county residents, but, in particular, the residents of both District 1 and District 4. Mr. Johnson represents District 1 and I am sure his constituents respect their fellow citizens more than Mr. Johnson’s actions indicate, and because Mrs. Pace represents District 4 residents he is also speaking to her constituents. His actions also make the Orange County Board of Supervisors look like undisciplined amateurs who take sport in demeaning their fellow members.
Also, the other three board members are not without fault here because their silence indicates approval of Mr. Johnson’s deplorable actions. I know if any of them took any type of leadership training, they know that you don’t lead by bullying. Leadership 101 says you praise in public and criticize in private.
The sad part of this whole incident is this is not the first, second, third or even the fourth time Mr. Johnson has acted this way toward Mrs. Pace.
It is part of a pattern of contempt that has formed over the past two plus years, a pattern that needs to be broken. It needs to be broken because the citizens of Orange County deserve better, and because the county has some real important issues to resolve. They can only be resolved with respect, cooperation and trust among our elected officials, and between the county’s citizens and their elected representatives. Right now, I don’t see or feel much respect between the board members or the citizens and the board members; in fact, the board is becoming dysfunctional under Mr. Johnson’s leadership or lack thereof. I believe Mr. Johnson owes the citizens of the county and Mrs. Pace a public apology and maybe he needs to step down as board chairman.
John Bangs
Orange