Boards Ponder Health Coverage
for Contract Workers

At the urging of Supervisor Lou Correa, both the Board of Supervisors and the OC Transportation Authority Board have discussed the issue of requiring our outside contractors to provide health insurance for their employees. Such a requirement would, of course, add to contractors' costs. To recoup this expense, contractors would either reduce wages or pass on the added costs directly to the County and OCTA.

Correa maintains that allowing contractors to hire workers without health insurance already adds to our costs. These workers and their families crowd our emergency rooms for taxpayer-funded treatment. Would local governments be better off requiring outside contractors to provide insurance, rather than continue paying the ultimate health costs of uninsured workers?

Government employees enjoy retirement and health insurance benefits that are typically far more generous than private sector workers. To save money, both OC and OCTA contract out a number of ongoing functions, especially janitorial services. Should we require these workers to be covered by employee-paid health insurance? Would this added burden squeeze out small businesses from public contracts? Our options are being considered.

Fading Use of Freeway Call Boxes

Emergency call boxes were installed on OC freeways in 1986, offering new a line of communication to stranded motorists. Call box usage grew through the mid-1990's, but has since dramatically declined. The widespread use of cell phones has pushed the call box ever closer to obsolescence.

Call box usage had declined by 44% since 2001. From 43,711 calls in 2000, there were only 23,480 calls in 2004. At the current rate, call box usage will virtually zero-out by 2015. Many of the calls still made turn out to be unnecessary as passing motorists will use their cell phone to report stranded drivers even before they reach the call box.

The system is run by the Orange County Transportation Authority, which pays $1 million annually to maintain the system. Another $1.3 million will soon be needed to digitally upgrade the 1,200 call boxes. Could the money be better spent elsewhere? Funds saved could be shifted to expanding the Freeway Service Patrol, operated by OCTA. This free service places tow trucks patrolling our busy freeways to help distressed motorists.

The OCTA Board is considering a committee recommendation to reduce the number of call boxes to 500, thinning them out to half-mile intervals from the current quarter-mile intervals. Should OCTA continue to maintain the existing system, or manage its orderly phase-out? I believe the years of the call boxes are numbered, but will consider all perspectives.

AG Axes OC Campaign Code Section

The spousal ban on campaign contributions to OC candidates has been ruled illegal by Attorney General Bill Lockyer. In a ruling released last week, the AG determined that the county ordinance violates state law, by which all adults have the equal ability to contribute to the candidates of their choice.

The Orange County campaign ordinance limits contributions to $1,500 per-person for each county officeholders, with one major exception. When a married person contributed $1,500 to a candidate, that person's spouse could give nothing. The $1,500 limit applied to both persons (spouses) cumulatively as a married couple. This effectively denied a married person the right to political participation on an equal basis with their partner.

Even the supporters of OC's campaign ordinance dubbed "TIN-CUP" (Time is Now, Clean Up Politics) admitted the spousal contribution ban was unconstitutional. The Board was powerless to address it, since it had passed as part of a package approved by the voters. Now, the Attorney General has made it clear. Marriage does not strip people of their right to support the candidate of their choice.

Runoff Confab Hosts New Ideas

I was honored to be the keynote speaker at the Regional Urban Runoff Conference on May 13, 2005, at the Irvine Marriott. I outlined the County's role as a regional leader in urban runoff and storm water treatment, and the importance of keeping our beaches clean. Also explored were new funding sources, particularly from California's redevelopment agencies.

Representatives from 32 companies displayed their systems, devices and techniques for treating and filtering polluted runoff before it reaches the beaches. The vast array of new inventions was impressive. A whole sub-industry has truly emerged. More than 200 elected officials, government staffers and company representatives attended.