NEWSMAKER OF THE DECADE -- Marian Bergeson

Tony Dodero

It was November of 1994, and then-state Sen. Marian Bergeson was coming

off one of her greatest political triumphs.

She had just run, unopposed, for the 5th District county supervisor seat

formerly held by Gen. Tom Riley -- a stunning affirmation of her

commanding political presence.

But the sweet taste of victory was soon to sour.

One month before she was to take office, Bergeson learned the news that

was to rattle Orange County government like a 7.0 quake. Longtime county

Treasurer Bob Citron’s financial gamble with the public’s money had gone

horribly wrong and the county was spiraling into the largest municipal

bankruptcy in U.S. history.

“I had great hopes for county government,” Bergeson says today. “I

happened to hit the Orange County bankruptcy at the wrong time. I think I

had a recall after me even before I took office.”

Those political twists and turns Bergeson’s life took in the 1990s --

like helping pull the county out of bankruptcy, pushing for smaller class

sizes, boosting teaching standards and championing the preservation of

the Upper Newport Bay -- prompted the Daily Pilot to crown her the

Newsmaker of the Decade.

It was the beginning of the 1990s when her political star really began to

rise, though it was a bumpy start.

In 1990, she was nominated by the Republican Party to be the lieutenant

governor candidate, only to lose the race to Democrat Leo McCarthy.

“The one (ballot box) defeat which she suffered, her bid for the office

of lieutenant governor, was a confirming example of how very difficult it

is for any Orange County elected official to obtain statewide office,”

says longtime colleague Tom Fuentes, the chairman of the Orange County

Republican Party. “Marian was the victim of the media ghetto of which we

live here. Marian, like others from Orange County, faces very limited

name recognition.”

She returned to the state Senate to battle one of the worst recessions to

ever hit California.

“We were trying to balance a budget that was about $15 billion down,” she

says. “Luckily, the economy turned around.”

In 1992, she became a victim again, this time of former Assembly Speaker

Willie Brown’s legendary vindictiveness. Brown successfully squelched her

nomination by then Gov. Pete Wilson to be the state’s superintendent of

public instruction.

Then, of course, there was the bankruptcy and those dark days. At the

time, Bergeson’s political prestige was gaining still, so much so that

candidates often sought her endorsement.

For example, the recall Bergeson speaks of began to brew actually

because of a non endorsement. She had declined to support John Moorlach

in his bid to unseat Citron from the county treasurer post.

At the time, Moorlach, now the country treasurer, had predicted the

collapse of the county dividend fund and he publicly noted Bergeson’s

nonsupport.

“When I look back at how the race went, that may be the turning

factor,” he said at the time.

But through all the bankruptcies ups and downs, Bergeson kept an

optimistic outlook.

“You don’t really have disappointments, you have experiences,” she

says.

And that she does.

Bergeson, who moved to Newport Beach’s Baycrest community in 1958 with

husband, Garth, has been in public life since 1964, making her the most

seasoned politician in Orange County.

“When I worked with her at the county level, we always relied on Marian

to help us with state legislation that was needed to get us through the

bankruptcy,” says county Supervisor Jim Silva, who was sworn in the same

time as Bergeson, right when the bankruptcy began. “We would never have

been able to get some of those bills passed without her help.”

Bergeson’s long political tenure began as a Newport Elementary School

District board member in 1964 and later in 1966 in the newly unified

Newport-Mesa district. In the late 1970s she went on to become a state

assemblywoman, in the 1980s a state senator and then county supervisor in

1994.

Two years into her stint as county supervisor, Bergeson was tabbed by

Wilson again, this time to serve in his cabinet as his secretary of child

development and education.

The education theme running through her life is hard to miss.

Today, Bergeson is a member of the state board of education. She followed

in her mother’s footstep and became a teacher, and her daughter continued

the tradition and is now a principal at Pomona Elementary in Costa Mesa.

She can certainly point to public instruction as the bedrock upon which

her legacy has been built.

“Teachers are the most valuable resource that we have,” she says. “In

Japan, the teachers are the most revered professions. We have to instill

in our communities a greater respect for the role of the teacher. And

teachers also have to accept a greater responsibility.”

As part of Wilson’s administration, Bergeson was instrumental in pushing

for statewide class-size reductions, improving teacher training and

curriculum standards, providing more incentives to lure in good teachers

and boosting test scores.

But she cautions that impatience can kill any future progress. She says

the seeds have been planted in statewide education that will bring much

fruit in the coming years.

“A lot of people get frustrated and want to start all over and that would

be a big mistake,” she says. “Instant gratification doesn’t happen in

education. The biggest challenge is staying the course ... of getting

every parent involved and making sure they know they have a role to

play.”

Bergeson’s biggest accomplishments, however, center around the

relationships she’s established and the loyalty she’s engendered with her

staff members and colleagues, political and otherwise.

“I cut my political teeth with Marian Bergeson,” says former Newport

Beach Mayor and Councilwoman Evelyn Hart, who has worked on some of

Bergeson’s campaigns. “There are a few women in politics and none of them

are role models like Marian Bergeson. She’s very quotable, very down to

earth and a very loyal friend over the years.”

Fuentes is another admirer.

“It has to be said that Marian is very first, a beautiful Mormon woman,”

Fuentes says. “As a devoted Christian, she has carried her values into

her service in public office from school board right up through the top.

As a woman, that was very courageous. She never caved on core values,

which is significant in the political debate.”

And Supervisor Silva says he fondly remembers Bergeson’s friendship

during the bleakness of the bankruptcy.

“At Christmas time in 1994, Marian and I talked on the phone about

whether or not we wanted to be sworn in,” Silva says. “I’m glad we made

the decision to do so.”

Silva says during Bergeson’s tenure on the board, he remembers showing up

in the parking lot at the same time as her and having her coax him into

walking up the five flights of stairs to the county supervisors office as

a way of working out.

It’s a practice Silva continues to this day.

As for her success, Bergeson credits the talented people she has always

surrounded herself with and her love of public service, which she calls

the “greatest opportunity.”

And what does the future hold for 2000 and beyond?

“I sort of take each week as it comes,” she says. “Luckily I have good

health and great expectations for involvement. I’ve never had to worry

about opportunities coming forward. And when I can’t (be involved

anymore) I will just continue to walk my dog around the block and enjoy

my grandkids.”

Marian’s legacy

* Family

Husband Garth, four children, nine grandchildren with two on the

way

* Teaching in the genes

She taught in Santa Monica schools and substituted locally. Her

mother was a teacher in Utah, daughter, Julie, is a principal at

Pomona Elementary

* The name game

An elementary school in Laguna Niguel and the aquatic center at Corona

del Mar High School bear her name.

* Education

Attended UCLA for three years, graduated from BYU.

* Favorite books

“Book of Virtues” by Bill Bennett and “Little Women,” Louisa May

Allcott

* Heroes

Winston Churchill; mother, Clara Crittendon

* First major legislative victory

Getting legislation passed to dredge the Upper Newport Bay

* Notable

Son, Jamie, played on the U.S. Olympic water polo team