Welcome to this issue of Janet’s Journal, a First District Report designed to keep you updated on issues and events concerning our communities in Orange County especially in the First District.

I am proud and honored to represent over 600,000 people within the First District covering the cities of Garden Grove, Santa Ana, Westminster and the unincorporated community of Midway City.

I hope you will find this journal informative. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact me. I look forward to hearing from you.

Respectfully,
Supervisor Janet Nguyen

Janet.Nguyen@ocgov.com

IN THIS ISSUE...

1. Board of Supervisors

2. Janet Around the First District

3. Local Issues

4. Requests for Proposals

5. Community Events

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I want to take this opportunity to wish you and your family a very Happy Thanksgiving! As we enter into this holiday season, it is my hope that we all remember to enjoy the many blessings in our life and express to our family and friends how thankful we are for their love and friendship.

In this time of turbulence and economic uncertainty, it is more true than ever that we can only make it with the love and help of family and friends. We should also keep those who are less fortunate in our thoughts and prayers and do all we can to help.

Veterans Appreciation Week

In honor of Veterans Appreciation Week, the Orange County Board of Supervisors extends its appreciation and gratitude for the sacrifices made by the veterans of Orange County, as well as their families. Orange County is home to more than 150,000 veterans and the military has always been a vital component of our community, both in its early history, as well as in the industry that employs our people today. It is appropriate for the County and its citizens to honor all military service persons, presently serving or retired, for their patriotic and selfless service to our country.

Veterans Day, formerly known as Armistice Day, was originally set as a U.S. legal holiday to honor the end of World War I. On July 1, 2004, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law Senate Bill 1688, which annually designated the second full week of November as Veterans Appreciation Week, in recognition of veterans of the United States Armed Forces.

In their service, all veterans make tremendous sacrifices for our benefit, having left jobs, their homes and loved ones behind to risk their life to secure our country's freedom for future generations.

Additional information on the history of Veterans Day, the Veterans Day National Committee, the national ceremony, a gallery of Veterans Day posters from 1978 to the present can be found at http://www.va.gov/vetsday/.

Children's Services Coordination Committee

As the Chair of the Children's Services Coordination Committee, I brought forward and received the Board of Supervisors approval of the addition of the Sheriff-Coroner Department to the Children's Services Coordination Committee.

Over the years, we have seen a need to include different departments and community partners in the work of this Committee. To effectively intervene or take action to discourage delinquency before minors become part of a correctional or treatment system, and sometimes even after those minors enter the system, we need to understand the social forces that may hamper their development. It is necessary for us to get input from the people that patrol our streets and give us feedback on how best to combat such forces. I am happy to welcome our Sheriff's Department to be a partner in this important work.

In addition, the Board approved the expansion of the Committee's purpose and the change of the Committee's name, from the Children's Services Coordination Committee to the Orange County Children's Partnership. While services coordination under the old name describes some of the work the Committee has done over the years, it is an incomplete description.

The Committee's mission is not just to coordinate services between county departments in the sense of how best to treat minors while they are in our system. The Committee's mission now is more holistic in its approach. The County's children and their well being is the ultimate goal. From early intervention to effective treatment while in the County's supervision to follow up contact to facilitate proper re-entry into the community, the committee's work really is a partnership to support our children.

West Justice Center Trial Court Facility in the City of Westminster

The Board of Supervisors approved the transfer and joint occupancy agreements with the Judicial Council of California for West Justice Center Trial Court Facility in the City of Westminster. This facility is made up of two buildings with a total of 17 courtrooms in 113,160 useable square feet.

The Trial Court Facilities Act (SB 1732) establishes the authority for the transfer of court facilities from the counties to the State, with the State's interests to be represented by the Judicial Council of California. This Act took the financial responsibility for the Court and the Court facilities off the County.

With these transfers of court facilities, the County is relieved of any further responsibility for providing, operating, maintaining, altering, and renovating "necessary and suitable" court facilities. The benefit to the county is significant in the long run as the need to repair, upgrade or replace older existing court facilities increases. However, in transferring the facilities, the County must still meet certain obligations, such as addressing parking needs by the Court.

As such, the County is transferring 91 parking spaces that border the West Justice Center building footprint, which includes designated and undesignated parking for County staff (District Attorney, Public Defender and Probation).

In addition, the County will provide 227 spaces in Lot D (the County owned lot on the south side of 13th Street adjacent to the Library) Monday through Friday, between the hours of 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. daily and 149 spaces in Lot E (the County owned triangular lot on All American Way at the end of 13th Street and south of Rose Park and the little league field) between the hours of 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. daily for exclusive use by Court staff and employees, jurors, and other Court visitors. All spaces in both lots will be available to the public and court users on a first come first served basis after 3 p.m. daily.

Sheriff-Coroner

The Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to approve an ordinance to allow the Sheriff-Coroner's office to allow Bail Bond Agent and Criminal Defense Attorney to rent advertising signboards in the County jails.

I voted against this ordinance because I don't believe that we should send a message that County facilities, especially where people are incarcerated, should be up for rent to the highest bidder. I believe in the sanctity of our work as government, and that we should not be viewed as implicitly endorsing products or services for profit.

Civic Center Parking/Maintenance Budget Fund 828

The Board of Supervisors approved the FY 2009-2010 Civic Center Parking/Maintenance Budget Fund in the amount of $9,979,851.

On January 11, 1966, the Board approved a Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) between the City of Santa Ana (City) and the County for the purposes of constructing, leasing, maintaining, and operating public facilities in the Santa Ana Civic Center. The Civic Center Authority (CCA) and OC Civic Center Parking/Maintenance Fund 828 were established pursuant to the JPA. The governing Board of the CCA is the Civic Center Commission.

With two governments - the City of Santa Ana and the County of Orange - as well as federal and state buildings all residing in the Civic Center Plaza, there was a need for this joint agreement in order to maintain the parking lots and structures, as well as the plaza and its landscaping.

On December 15, 1987, the Board approved a Development Agreement between the City and the County to provide for the construction of the Courthouse-Library and Stadium parking structures. The Development Agreement was amended by the Board on August 8, 1991, to deposit parking revenues from the Superblock Parking Lot, the Appellate Court Parking Structure, the Courthouse Library Parking Structure, the Stadium Parking Structure, and the Old Courthouse Parking Lot into Fund 828.

Workforce Investment Act

The Board of Supervisors approved an increased funding amount of $574,629 to the Workforce Investment Act Youth Program Providers. This program is to increase the capacity of Workforce Investment Act employment and training services to In-School and Out-of-School Youth.

The Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998 requires that Youth Providers offer eligible youth ages 14 to 21 access to the following ten service components: 1) career exploration and preparation; 2) paid and unpaid work experience; 3) occupational skills training; 4) academic skills improvement; 5) alternative secondary education services; 6) summer employment opportunities; 7) leadership skills development; 8) supportive services; 9) comprehensive guidance counseling; and 10) follow-up services.

Social Services Agency to Rehire 99 Employees

Due to the State of California recently increased funding for the Medi-Cal, Food Stamp and CalWORKS programs, the Orange County Social Services Agency (SSA) will rehire 99 employees to fill the need for the increased caseload in these areas.

The additional SSA allocation is approximately $9 million more than originally budgeted, thus providing funding for these positions through Fiscal Year 2009-2010. SSA projects these increased caseloads to continue through Fiscal Year 2010-2011 and the foreseeable future. Therefore, it is anticipated that this additional funding will remain for at least several more years.

The increased State funding is a direct result of caseload growth in the Medi-Cal and CalWORKS programs. The SSA positions to be filled include 20 Social Workers for the CalWORKS programs, 55 Eligibility Technicians and Employment Eligibility Specialists, as well as the required supervisory and support staff to assist in the delivery of services to SSA clientele. None of the 99 positions will be filled at the management level.

The 99 SSA positions to be filled will primarily result in the rehiring/reinstatement of former SSA employees who had previously occupied a position within that classification/occupational series. SSA will rehire those employees who were laid off, as well as probationary employees released during their probationary period occurring in January and February 2009.

Three Wins for the County

At the October 27th Board meeting, the California State Association of Counties (CSAC) presented awards to three Orange County agencies. The winning programs were selected out of hundreds of entries throughout the state as part of CSAC's annual Challenge Award competition.

The award winners were selected based on their innovative and resourceful solution to a problem, as well as each program's ability to be replicated and its use of cost-effective practices.

OC Waste & Recycling (OCWR) won a prestigious Challenge Award for its AB 939 Surcharge Program, which implements a surcharge on self-hauled waste to landfills to reduce the disposal of recyclable materials. As a direct result of the program, OCWR has experienced an increase in diverted waste from landfills to recycling facilities. Self-hauled waste has decreased 70 percent since the inception of the surcharge. Almost $14 million was generated from the surcharge for use in regional recycling education programs, including public education, outreach and a partnership with a local science center.

The Sheriff's Department was awarded a Merit Award for its Tracking Automated Graffiti Reporting System (TAGRS), a clearinghouse that enables law enforcement and public works agencies to capture, share and investigate graffiti incidents. TAGRS maximizes staff time to the tune of a 90 percent reduction in administrative project time to document the necessary information on graffiti reports. The Orange County Transportation Authority Transit Police Services reports a 20 percent increase in cases of cleared graffiti and a cost reduction of $50,000.

The County also garnered a second merit award for the Health Care Agency's Mobile Clinics for the Homeless program, a partnership between Public Health Community Nursing and private organizations to bring medical care to the homeless. In response to the challenges associated with serving homeless individuals, the public health officer worked with public and private entities to find solutions.

H1N1 Flu Vaccines Clinic Update

Three recent Health Care Agency flu clinics in the First District brought thousands of people out to receive both regular seasonal and H1N1 flu vaccinations.

The most recent flu clinic was held on Saturday, October 31, 2009 at Santa Ana College. People began lining up before dawn to be among those able to receive one of the H1N1 (swine) flu vaccines that were available. Health officials estimate that more than 1,600 vaccinations were administered at the Santa Ana College clinic. Because of the shortage of the H1N1 vaccines, the vaccines at this event were limited to children between 2 and 9, who are considered to be at high-risk, and care providers who take care of children younger than 6 months.

On Friday, October 30, 2009, two flu shot clinics were held at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove and Santa Ana College in Santa Ana. Administered at these events were regular seasonal flu vaccines to more than 2,500 adults and children over three years of age. These events included both walk-in and drive-thru options for the public to receive the flu vaccines.

The events also coordinated staff from Orange County Health Care Agency and the Garden Grove and Santa Ana Emergency Response Teams, together with those cities' Police and Fire Departments, as part of a tactical response exercise. In case of a bio-terrorism attack, the parking lots of Crystal Cathedral and Santa Ana College will serve as two of the mass inoculation sites around the County.

A third flu clinic was held in mid-October. More than 750 people received their regular seasonal flu vaccines at the County Community Services Center in Westminster. As with other events, Supervisor Nguyen worked closely with the Health Care Agency, and for this event also with Westminster Mayor Margie Rice and Garden Grove Councilman Andrew Do, to provide the opportunity for people to receive their seasonal flu vaccines.

Orange County pregnant women can get the shots for free by making an appointment with the Health Care Agency's referral line at 1-800-564-8448. The clinic is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is estimated that an additional 8,300 vaccines will arrive in the next few days.

In honor of Orange County Veteran's Appreciation Week, Supervisor Janet Nguyen presented Commander Elmer Raber (American Legion Post 266), Fred Bella (United Mexican American Veterans Association), Steve Vargas (Orange County Veterans Advisory Council), and John Parent (County of Orange's Veterans Service Office) with a Board Resolution at the November 10th Board of Supervisor's meeting. The Orange County Board of Supervisors extends its most sincere appreciation and gratitude for the sacrifices made by the veterans of Orange County and their families for our freedom.


Supervisor Janet Nguyen joins Elizabeth Rivas from Casa de la Familia; Ginny Romig from Providence Community Services; Patti Pettit and Chandra Chaikin from the Wellness Center; Gregg Von Fempe from Providence Community Services; and Mark Refowitz and Tony Delgado from the County of Orange for a tour of the Wellness Center in Santa Ana.


On Saturday, November 7th, Supervisor Janet Nguyen joined 2009 Planning Committee member Rudy Cordova, at the Annual Noche de Altares, community celebration of Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Participants created altars to honor their loved ones.


Supervisor Janet Nguyen, Garden Grove Councilman Andrew Do, Nick Tam Lecong (Deputy Chief of Staff to Supervisor Janet Nguyen), and Garden Grove Planning Commissioner Tom Bonikowski assist the Orange County Healthcare Agency at the first H1N1 vaccinations clinic to pre-screen children and care providers in line by putting an orange wristband on their wrist.

* The following articles are for informational purposes only and are not necessarily intended to imply endorsement or support.

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To contact Supervisor Janet Nguyen, please call 714-834-3110 or email Janet.Nguyen@ocgov.com.