A concerted, back-channels effort by Republican leaders has succeeded in gaining a board majority at the South Coast Air Quality Management District, which oversee the regulation and compliance of everything from power plants to gas stations.

The shift occurred Thursday evening, when the Orange County City Selection Committee narrowly selected Republican Dwight Robinson over the Democratic incumbent, Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido, as Orange County cities’ representative on the air quality board.

Robinson, a Lake Forest councilman, will take his seat on the 13-member board in January. Provided no Republicans are replaced by Democrats before then, Robinson will give the GOP a 7-6 edge that could result in less stringent air quality policies.

“This is definitely reason to celebrate,” said Orange County GOP Chairman Fred Whitaker. He said that gas stations have been over-regulated and expressed concern about future regulations governing trucks carrying goods from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

Robinson is vice president and general manager of Los Angeles Harbor Grain Terminal, a business at the L.A. port that loads exporters’ agricultural goods into cargo containers.

Additionally, Whitaker said, “There’s been an overemphasis in my opinion on alternative fuels before the market is ready for them.”

But some lamented the possibility that air quality would deteriorate, pointing out that surrounding mountains were often obscured by smog 30 years ago.

“It’s an injustice to the region that’s the direction the Republicans want to go in,” said Garden Grove Mayor Bao Nguyen, a Democrat who voted for Pulido.

Back channels

While the air quality board and city councils are non-partisan, Whitaker and state GOP Chairman Jim Brulte are working to build Republican influence at the local level as part of a long-range plan to gain build muscle at the statewide level. Democrats hold every statewide seat and a strong majority of the state’s Legislature and congressional delegation.

“It’s part of our strategy in a state where it will take a long time to win statewide offices,” Whitaker said. The immediate focus includes both city councils and regional boards like the air quality panel.

The Republican drive to gain a majority on the board included letters from Whitaker to every GOP mayor in the county, phone calls from Whitaker and — according to Irvine City Councilman Jeff Lalloway — phone calls from Brulte and GOP consultant Mike Madrid.

It also included the replacement of at least one member of the City Selection Committee to ensure Robinson had enough votes to prevail over Pulido. That committee includes the mayor or the mayor’s representative from each city in the county. To win approval, a candidate needed to win a majority of the cities and those cities must represent a majority of the county population.

Robinson ended up winning the cities in attendance, 21-12, and the population, 54 percent, according to OCPolitical.com, which live blogged the event online. Winning Irvine, the county’s third largest city, was crucial for Robinson to win the majority of the population.

Lalloway, a Republican who had been Irvine’s representative until this meeting, said he received a call from Madrid Oct. 29 encouraging him to vote for Robinson. Lalloway says he explained to Madrid that the panel had never been politicized — and didn’t commit his vote for or against Robinson.

Four hours later, he received an email from Republican Irvine Mayor Steven Choi stating he’d been replaced as Irvine’s representative, deepening a rift between the two. Lalloway responded with an email rescinding his endorsement of Choi’s campaign for Assembly.

Madrid and Choi did not immediately return calls for comment.

Choi replaced Lalloway with Republican Christina Shea, who voted for Robinson. I asked Whitaker if he thinks his efforts made a difference.

“Absolutely,” he said.

Staff writer Sarah de Crescenzo contributed to this column.



Contact the writer: mwisckol@ocregister.com