Brand new names help to brand county as OC
OMG!
Seeking to capitalize on its TV fame as America’s quintessential suburb, Orange County moved to rename its government functions Tuesday with slicked-up, simplified names to remind everyone of exactly where they are: The OC!
County supervisors voted to rename 11 departments and agencies and create two new ones, all with the “OC” brand made famous by the now-defunct television show of the same name, thus jettisoning the clunky bureaucratic nomenclature of the past. Example: the Integrated Waste Management Department -- it processes trash -- will become OC Waste and Recycling!
In its thirst for hipster cred, the county has apparently chosen to eschew punctuation: There will be no periods after the O or the C. (For the record, the title of the TV show, which went off the air a year ago, had them.)
The idea was to simplify county government for people and make it more accessible. The changes also included a reorganization of some departments and agencies to make those that deal most directly with the public -- such as parks, animal shelters and libraries -- more user-friendly.
Supervisors adopted name changes for eight departments in a single unanimous vote, then took a series of votes on the rest to adopt or discard proposed name changes.
The noncontroversial: OC Dana Point Harbor, OC Infrastructure, OC Community Services, OC Housing, OC Planning, OC Road & Flood. Also created were OC Public Works and OC Community Resources.
Waste Management was supposed to become OC Landfills, but the supervisors trashed that idea in favor of OC Waste and Recycling. OC Animal Shelter became OC Animal Care. And since OC Asset Management sounded too much like a hedge fund, that became OC Facilities.
Then came the branding battles!
Supervisor Bill Campbell wanted the proposed OC Library to be changed to OC Public Libraries. Supervisor Chris Norby supported the request -- he said he wouldn’t cast a vote “opposing public libraries” -- but the other three board members voted it down, going with OC Libraries instead.
And the department that used to be named Harbors, Beaches and Parks will now just be called OC Parks. Supervisor Patricia Bates, whose coastal South County district includes many of Orange County’s most well-known beaches, wanted the department to be named OC Beaches & Parks.
“People come to Orange County for the beaches,” she said. “How we don’t have that in our headline is perplexing to me.”
Whatev! Supervisors voted 4 to 1, with Bates opposed, to keep it OC Parks. Guess they won’t be BFFs 4-eva.
--
christian.berthelsen@latimes.com