COMMUNITY COMMENTARY:Thank you for letting me serve

I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve you these past years.

Due to term limits, my journey with you as your county supervisor is ending. The time has been rewarding, humbling, insightful, and much, much more. I can only say it has been a life-changing experience, which only improved as I met more and more interesting and caring folks who call Orange County “paradise,” as I do.

I was elected to the Board of Supervisors just one month after the county declared bankruptcy in 1994. These were dark days and I was on a fast learning curve. Then, 12 years later, I was honored to represent O.C. in New York City for our Bankruptcy Recovery Program, which saved taxpayers over $500 million -- what an amazing circle of events!

I have loved each day of the challenge, and am pleased to be called supervisor when most of the time “Jim” would do just fine.

Orange County is recognized as a great place to live and work. Therefore, we are treated as a “donor county,” especially by the state of California. But we still have flood control channels to fix and enhance. We still have illegal immigration, which affects everyone’s quality of life. We still experience traffic jams in our daily commutes.

We have problems just like any other community, yet we live in one of the most wonderful and compassionate areas of this country, which fosters creative thinking and an entrepreneurial spirit.

It is these components, which provide vision, conservative values, and problem-solving thinking that will ensure a better quality of life, without having to raise taxes. It’s not how much money you make, it’s how you spend it.

I was a teacher for 28-years, so I want to finally encourage the young people of Orange County to get involved with issues of our day. I urge them to attend local city council or school board meetings and become educated about the issues and stay committed to their values in the process. Self-satisfaction results from serving others.

As the only supervisor ever to be born and raised in the county, I have always felt a special relationship to the people who make up our 3.2 million population. Therefore, I will leave you with this; I always took into consideration opinions and views of others; I always strived to be there for my constituents; I always tried to serve with integrity and honor.

No one can do it alone. I wish to thank my staff, my colleagues from within the County family and those as the State and Federal level who have shared their passions regarding issues that concern them most. Lastly, I thank my wife, Connie, and our children, Chad and Donna.

Without their support, understanding, and devotion to service, I certainly would not have fared as well.