Sifting Through Year’s Opinions

D uring 1988, various Orange County residents wrote about their feelings and thoughts in articles submitted to our Sunday commentary columns. As we look back, some of those thoughts are recalled:

Mark Baldassare and Cheryl Katz on slow-growth initiative:

When Measure A, the slow-growth initiative, went down to defeat, it marked a surprising turnabout in one of the most important political controversies of Orange County’s first century. For months residents and local leaders’ attention had been riveted on the high-profile, albeit not-well-understood, initiative, while the rest of the nation watched Orange County with unprecedented interest. Voters rejected the proposition they once favored so heavily by 56% to 44%. But the defeat of Measure A by no means spells the end of the slow-growth movement in Orange County. As long as traffic on the county’s freeways remains painfully snarled and clogged, the 2-to-1 ratio for slow growth found earlier this decade is unlikely to erode. Rather, the defeat means voters viewed this particular policy instrument as a flawed and inadequate approach to the freeway mess. In the future, Orange County voters will still be searching for elected officials and ballot initiatives that bring relief.