Hopefuls declare candidacy

Alicia Robinson

The 2006 election season is already underway, with candidates lining

up to succeed incumbent Tom Wilson, who will be termed out in the 5th

District in 2006.

The 5th District includes Laguna Beach as well as Newport Coast

and points south.

Former Laguna Niguel City Councilman Eddie Rose recently announced

he’ll run for Wilson’s seat -- and former Assemblywoman Patricia

Bates and Laguna Niguel Councilwoman Cassie DeYoung have already

begun campaigns.

As a city councilman, Rose often opposed his colleagues on

development issues, and he says he has a 100% voting record in

support of environmental issues. If he is elected supervisor, he

said, he will oppose the extension of the Foothill Transportation

Corridor and the planned 14,000-home Rancho Mission Viejo

development.

Now an Independent, Rose -- a champion bridge player -- was

formerly a Republican but in 2000 ran for Congress as a Reform Party

candidate.

“We want to give the people an opportunity to have someone on the

Board of Supervisors that’s going to preserve what little open space

is left in Orange County,” Rose said.

If he is elected, Rose said he’ll be a hands-on supervisor.

“I like to find out for myself and make my own decisions rather

than rely on staff to make them and then just rubber stamp them,” he

said. “One thing I am not is a rubber stamp.”

DeYoung has been on the Laguna Niguel City Council since 1998 and

has been a deputy district attorney for Orange County and served on

the Orange County Transportation Authority board.

Law enforcement, transportation issues and land use would be

DeYoung’s top priorities as a supervisor, she said.

“I filed for election because it’s an office that I truly want to

serve the interests of South Orange County,” she said.

“For me [the important issues are] law enforcement, transportation

and planning. These are the things that I’ve always been interested

in.”

Bates, a Republican, served in the Assembly from 1998 to 2004. She

also has served on the Laguna Niguel City Council and was the city’s

first mayor when it incorporated in 1989.

Bates could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

There hasn’t traditionally been much competition for the 5th

District seat, UC Irvine political scientist Mark Petracca said.

Wilson was appointed to the board in 1996 after Marian Bergeson

stepped down, and he ran unopposed in 2002.