Bergeson Makes It Official : Politics: She’ll run for supervisorial seat to be vacated when Thomas F. Riley retires. Board members, community leaders support her candidacy.

SANTA ANA —  In an event that resembled a coronation more than a political campaign kickoff, state Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach) announced her candidacy Tuesday to succeed Orange County Supervisor Thomas F. Riley as representative of the county’s sprawling southern region.

Bergeson’s announcement, which came 18 months before Riley’s scheduled retirement, drew unanimous endorsement from the five supervisors and support from a wide range of community leaders--a show of political strength that is expected to clear the field of any potential opponents.

“This announcement sends a clear message that Marian is serious about this seat,” Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez said. “I haven’t heard of anybody else out there.”

Within hours of Bergeson’s announcement, at least one local political figure was positioning for a run at her seat in Sacramento.

Assemblyman Gil Ferguson (R-Newport Beach) said that he had been contemplating a run for secretary of state but that Bergeson’s announcement has now set him on a course for the state Senate.

“I would like to finish out my service in the Senate where there are fewer people but no (Assembly Speaker) Willie Brown,” Ferguson said. “I was encouraged by the (Republican) Party to run for secretary of state, but this helps me decide.”

Another mentioned as a possible candidate for Bergeson’s seat has been Assemblywoman Doris Allen (R-Cypress), but she could not be reached for comment.

Perhaps most imposing about Bergeson’s Tuesday appearance, though, was her choice of campaign leadership, a team that includes the immensely popular Riley, a former Marine Corps general, and former baseball Commissioner Peter V. Ueberroth, who lives in Laguna Beach.

Even Dana W. Reed, a former board member of the Orange County Transportation Authority who has been mentioned as a possible candidate for the 5th District seat, stepped aside Tuesday and declared Bergeson as “my choice, definitely.”

Bergeson has long been mentioned as Riley’s choice to succeed him. That likelihood grew even stronger when the 67-year-old state senator failed to win confirmation as California’s superintendent of public instruction earlier this year.

With a campaign sign already affixed to the wall of a first-floor meeting room at the Hall of Administration, Riley introduced Bergeson on Tuesday as a “strong advocate for Orange County” who was coming back home to finish her career in public service.

“There was a time once when the state and federal government were the dominant forces . . . but that has changed,” Bergeson said. “The people on the front lines are the city and county officials. . . . The state government has become more polarized and this change has pushed us farther away from the people.

“So it’s time to put my experience to a good use,” she said. “It’s time to go back to where I started and back to where the action is--back to local government.”

During her 15 years in Sacramento, first as an assemblywoman and then as a senator, the former Newport-Mesa Unified School District board member has been credited with defending a conservative philosophy that marks local government and politics in Orange County.

In her address to supporters Tuesday, Bergeson said she would continue that effort in Sacramento and, she hopes, as Riley’s successor. Because of state-mandated term limits, Bergeson is serving a final Senate term, which would expire in 1996. She would stand for election to the county seat in the June, 1994, primary election. Riley’s resignation is effective in January, 1995.

Bergeson said, however, that before leaving Sacramento she wants to set in motion a process that she hopes will “streamline” government functions and protect local government property tax revenue from going to fund any future state budget deficits.

Last month, the state won approval to shift $2.6 billion in property tax revenue from counties to fund public education in California. In Orange County, the shift amounted to a loss of about $150 million.

“Property taxes should go for property-related services,” Bergeson said. “Let’s make it so and stop the shifts.”

Bergeson said that in her role as a member of the Senate’s Select Committee on Defense Base Conversions, she will work to acquire federal money to clean up environmental hazards at the Marine Corps air stations at El Toro and Tustin--which are slated for closure--and finance plans for their civilian use.

At the same time, Bergeson unveiled a five-point plan she would initiate if elected to the Board of Supervisors.

The proposals include:

* Support for more outside contractors to perform more county government services.

* Seeking funding for the preservation of dwindling open space and protection of coastal resources in the district.

* Promoting federal plans to adopt a surcharge for border crossings into the United States from Mexico.

At the top of Bergeson’s local strategy, however, is formation of a countywide consensus on a conversion plan for El Toro.

Like Riley, who led the county’s bid to keep the base open, Bergeson said she is not convinced that a commercial airport is the best future plan for the military installation.

A coalition of cities, led by Newport Beach, has strongly advocated a plan for a commercial airport at El Toro and pushed for such a designation even while the county was fighting to keep the post off the federal government’s chopping block. The coalition’s position has irritated Riley and other county officials, who have vowed to seize control of the reuse planning process.

The Tuesday announcement begins a rare shuffling of power in local politics prompted by the anticipated retirements of the 81-year-old Riley, a four-term supervisor, and Board of Supervisors Chairman Harriett M. Wieder, 72, who will leave in January, 1995, having also served 16 years.

Like Riley, Wieder has endorsed a potential successor in her district, Haydee Tillotson of Huntington Beach.

A political unknown until her appointment to the Orange County Planning Commission last March when she acknowledged her interest in Wieder’s board seat, Tillotson abruptly resigned in June to devote more time to her supervisorial campaign.

Tillotson has already drawn opposition, from Huntington Beach City Council members Jim Silva and Linda Moulton-Patterson.

Among those who have been mentioned as possible candidates for Riley’s South County district have been Sheriff Brad Gates, Reed and San Juan Capistrano City Councilman Gary L. Hausdorfer. Gates’ interest has been characterized as marginal at best, and he is not now believed to be considering such a run. Any others would have to contend with Bergeson’s ability to raise money and her enormous name identification throughout the county.

“I don’t know how you beat her even if you want to beat her,” political consultant Harvey Englander said. “She is just extremely popular.”

Still, Hausdorfer said Tuesday that he continues to contemplate a run, if only to stimulate discussion of South County issues.

“It would be wrong in July, 1993, to rule out any debate of significant issues that face this part of the county,” Hausdorfer said, referring specifically to plans for El Toro. “The 5th District has changed greatly in the past 10 years. I’m going to give it some thought.”

Campaign Kickoff Marian Bergeson announced her candidacy to succeed Thomas F. Riley as supervisor of the 5th District. Age: 67 Home: 35-year resident of Newport Beach Occupation: State senator, 35th District (includes coastal Orange County from Seal Beach to Laguna Beach and the cities of La Palma, Cypress, Los Alamitos, Fountain Valley, Costa Mesa, Tustin and Irvine) Senate duties: Chairs Local Government Committee; vice chair of Housing and Urban Affairs Committee; member of committees on appropriations, industrial relations, ethics, health and human services, transportation and defense base closures. She is also a member of the State Allocation Board. Political affilation: Republican Experience: Former teacher and Newport-Mesa School District board member. California Assemblywoman 1978-1984; currently serving third term in state Senate. Unsuccessful in 1990 bid for lieutenant governor. Her 1993 nomination to be state superintendent of public instruction was blocked by the Assembly. Source: Sen. Bergeson’s office