Yorba Linda Studies Day-Care Law : New Companies Would Have to Provide Centers or Funding

Large companies moving to Yorba Linda would become the first in Southern California required to provide day care for employees’ children under a proposed city law.

Although one council member said the idea smacks of communism, several of his colleagues this week lauded the day-care plan, which city officials are studying.

“Isn’t this a procedure used by a lot of the communist countries?” asked Councilman Gene Wisner. “This is a problem for the private sector and should be left as such.”

Shortage Called ‘Serious Problem’

Councilman Henry Wedaa, who suggested the idea at a council meeting Monday night, said the shortage of day-care facilities is a “serious problem” that local government has a responsibility to address.

Councilman Irwin Freed agreed that the city should study its options because “whatever the form of government, communism in Russia, communism in China,” day care in a society with two-income families “is a necessity. It’s no longer a frill--regardless of the form of government.”

Carol Hatch, executive director of the Orange County Commission on the Status of Women, called the proposal “a tremendous idea.” Companies with day-care centers would reduce absenteeism and employee turnover, she said, and “create more dedicated, productive employees.”

“It’s difficult to go to work and wonder how your child is being treated,” Hatch said Tuesday. A day-care center in the workplace “leaves the employee more peace of mind to do a better job.”

Concord, Calif., is believed to be the first city in the country to require day care. Last July, Concord began charging developers .5% of the value of their projects to finance child-care programs, said Lydia DuBorg, assistant to the city manager.

Thirty-five miles away and three months later, San Francisco became the country’s first major city to require developers of projects of more than 50,000 square feet to either provide on-site child care or pay $1 per square foot to a fund that finances such programs, said Karen Furia, director of the mayor’s office of child care.

Officials in Concord and San Francisco said they have received inquiries from cities across the nation that are interested in their programs.

Fraught With Problems

Both DuBorg and Furia said they expect developers in their cities to pay into the funds rather than build day-care centers. “Most developers are not interested in getting into the child-care business,” Furia said. The child-care business has been fraught with problems nationwide as insurance companies have dropped liability coverage and raised premiums following day-care sex-abuse scandals.

The executive director of the Yorba Linda Chamber of Commerce, Anita A. Loveland, said she personally would oppose an ordinance requiring day care but would favor the idea of businesses contributing to a fund. “I don’t mind the bit of $1 per foot to help it, but I don’t see mandating it. I think it could be really discouraging to companies that are not interested,” said Loveland, who has been on the job since Monday and emphasized that she was presenting her own views and not the chamber’s.

‘Running a Business’

“They are running a business, they are not running a child-care business. If they want to get into the child-care business, they’ll do that,” Loveland said.

Councilman Wedaa said he believes that companies providing on-site day-care centers would have an edge in attracting employees. Also, he said, such a measure would help the city’s SAVI Ranch, a business park, attract new businesses.

But Wisner said that if that were true, SAVI “would be the first one” to offer day care. “Let’s let them make that decision,” he said.

Wedaa said he would not favor surcharges, but would prefer that large companies or business centers build and run their own day-care centers, with a push from the city. “This is a proper and fitting role for the city,” Wedaa said.

City Council members Monday night asked the city staff to investigate options and the cost of hiring a private consultant, who would assess the need for child care.

Need Questioned

Councilman Todd Murphy said he knows of 13 day-care centers in the city and questioned whether “there is a need.”

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 60% of working women have children under 18 years of age. In Orange County, about 10,000 children are awaiting openings at day-care facilities, according to 1984 figures from the Children’s Home Society of California, the county’s referral service.