A Chance to Make a Difference

Only 125 registered voters applied for the Orange County Grand Jury last year. In 1987, about 1,700 letters sent to the community and elected officials initially drew only 60 applications. The response is even less so far this year.

So the grand jury isn’t for everyone. Still, it means everything to me.

Instant gratification may not be an asset of grand jury service, but it’s easy enough to apply. All a candidate has to be is over 18, a yearlong county and state resident and English speaking.

It helps if he/she has ordinary intelligence and sound judgment and is willing to submit to detailed investigation by the district attorney’s office. A cross-section of jurors is being sought before the deadline of 5 p.m. Friday. There has been a preponderance of applicants from affluent south county. It has been suggested that more Orange County businessmen hold jobs open and continue to pay employees who opt for public service for a year, but that may be a Utopian dream.

What would be more realistic would be internships for public administration and political science majors as well as law students. In addition to this type of on-the-job training, there could be more subsidization of wives by working husbands and vice-versa.

One satisfactory solution has been school district employees choosing to spend their sabbaticals studying local government.

Grand jury can be life in the fast lane. Trying to make a difference is what it’s all about.

GILDA FEHR

Orange

Gilda Fehr is a member of the current Orange County Grand Jury.