ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Shaping Up Wieder’s Shop

Supervisor Harriett Wieder’s top aide, Sandra Ward, became a paid director of a company that has an exclusive license to provide bus service between John Wayne Airport and various hotels. The obvious problem was that the county owns and operates the airport, which means that Wieder and the four other supervisors have ultimate control over who gets airport contracts.

Ward resigned as a director after the filing of a lawsuit alleging conflict of interest, but what does all this say about the way Wieder runs her shop? Obviously anyone considering competing with Ward’s company for a contract at a county-run facility would have thought twice about going up against a firm seemingly so wired to the Board of Supervisors. Supervisor Gaddi Vasquez said the conflict was so obvious it wasn’t even worth discussing. He’s right.

In 1991, Wieder defended a proposed renewal of a county marina contract held by a company that used her son as a lobbyist; this year, she let lobbyists who do business with the county pick up a $1,500 lunch tab, which she described as “family and friends” congratulating her on becoming board chairwoman.

The obvious ethics problem posed by the bus company directorship suggests yet again that Wieder needs to set a tougher standard on ethics for those serving on her staff --and for herself.