Week in Review : MAJOR EVENTS, IMAGES AND PEOPLE IN ORANGE COUNTY NEWS : North Tustin Applauds Democracy in Action : CITIES

The unusual tenor of the meeting was reflected in the remarks of Irvine Co. President Thomas H. Nielsen. He was applauded by the 600 North Tustin-area residents who, by and large, think his company’s development plans are a threat to their life styles.

Nielsen thanked the audience for its applause. “We don’t hear that very often,” he said.

The reason for the glee? The Orange County Transportation Commission was unanimously rejecting a proposal to extend the Garden Grove Freeway eastward into the North Tustin area. The goal was to ease traffic on other freeways, but no one--not even the Irvine Co., whose planned development the freeway would have served--stood up in favor of the proposal. Nielsen had said his company opposed it.

James Beam, a commissioner member and mayor of Orange, said the proposal had been “DOA--dead on arrival.” It was a rare case of political, economic and technical considerations pointing to the same conclusion, Beam said.

The commission meeting had been transferred from the county Hall of Administration to the nearby Santa Ana City Hall-Police Annex to accommodate the unusually large crowd.

Large crowds concerned about such matters usually mean nasty political confrontations, but the meeting turned into love fest. Small flags were passed out in the foyer as the crowd filed into the meeting, and after the vote was taken, the commission members themselves started the flag-waving. Applause was loud and long.

“Democracy can work and does work,” beamed county Supervisor Harriett Wieder, who is chairman of the commission.