Proclamations Crowd Supervisors’ Agenda

A busy county bureaucrat taps his fingers and slowly lifts his jacket sleeve to take a peek at his watch.

In the background a supervisor’s familiar voice is heard: “Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Orange County Board of Supervisors does hereby commend the Trammell Crow Corp. for its outstanding commitment, contribution and service to the county of Orange.”

And the presentations go on.

Each Tuesday, after saluting the American flag and bowing their heads for a short prayer--but before getting into the heady work of running a government with a $2.9-billion budget--Orange County supervisors spend a sizable portion of their meeting handing out resolutions or proclamations honoring individuals, organizations or causes.

Last year, the supervisors approved 456 commendations and proclamations, of which 120 were presented publicly.

“We do as many in a week now as we used to do in a year when I first came on the board,” noted Supervisor Thomas F. Riley, who has held his post for 16 years. “Each supervisor has their own criteria. Some do more than others.”

Last week, for example, most of the first 25 minutes of the 50-minute supervisors’ meeting was taken up by five commendations. During two presentations, the supervisors played dramatic 911 tape recordings of county fire dispatchers coaching the relatives of pregnant women through emergency child deliveries. The two new babies, their parents and family members crowded around the podium as the dispatchers received resolutions from Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez.

Waiting in the wings, meanwhile, was a board agenda that included 83 business items, including discussions on water conservation, a proposed graffiti cleanup program and a videotaping program to speed county court procedures.

Because officials say the number of commendations has been increasing each year, Board of Supervisors Chairman Don R. Roth has directed county staffers to look for ways to streamline procedures. Among other things, they are considering ways to centralize the process so there are fewer duplications; some individuals and organizations, it seems, have found that they can receive more than one resolution by going to all five supervisors individually for recognition.

“We are also looking at possible ways to limit their numbers,” Roth aide Dan Wooldridge said, “(but) we are not in any way trying to get rid of them.”

In most cases, recipients step forward to accept a handsome document in a frame or vinyl folder, then pose for an official photograph with one of the five supervisors.

“It is a way of recognizing citizens or organizations for activities and efforts that exceed the norm,” Vasquez recently said of the commendations.

“They make people feel good,” Roth added.

The individuals and issues honored can range from the most admirable to the rather mundane.

During 1989, for example, resolutions of commendation praised the Construction Industries Alliance, General Telephone of California, the Orange County Home and Garden Show and the El Toro Water Polo Team. Proclamations, meanwhile, recognized Orange County Archeology Week, National Older Worker Week and Air Transportation Month, among others.

Sometimes, birthdays and anniversaries are enough to capture the supervisors’ attention. Last year they honored Northrop Corp. on its 50th anniversary, the city of Mito, Japan, on its 100th and the Los Angeles Rams football team on its 25th.

One recent resolution sought by Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder even congratulated a Seal Beach couple “on this very special occasion of their 25th wedding anniversary.” The document went on to say that the couple’s children planned a surprise party at the Costa Mesa Country Club where friends will gather to honor them.

Sometimes, the supervisors pass resolutions commending each other for jobs well done. Last year, Riley honored Wieder with a resolution praising her work as past board chairwoman and recognized Stanton for his service to the county in general.

Over the year, Riley--who was then serving as chairman--sponsored 165 commendations and proclamations. That was more than any other supervisor, but the chairman traditionally gets more requests. Vasquez handed out 97, Wieder handed out 82, Supervisor Roger R. Stanton passed out 66 and Roth handed out 46.

Only a small number of the commendations actually are presented at board meetings; the bulk are mailed or presented at other public or private functions by the supervisors or their aides. Many, possibly thousands, of less official certificates are handed out by individual supervisors and not recorded by the clerk.

After President Bush’s visit to Orange County in March, for example, Roth sent a stack of certificates to the sheriff’s deputies who volunteered without pay to work crowd control at the President’s anti-drug speech in Santa Ana. Similar certificates were sent to Explorer Scouts who assisted.

No one in county government could come up with an accurate figure on how much it cost to type up, record and present a resolution of commendation or proclamation.

But supervisors have already pared the cost somewhat by using more inexpensive cardboard and vinyl folders and fewer expensive frames. They also buy the frames and folders in bulk, which cuts the cost further, Wooldridge said.

He said the cost and the amount of labor included in each commendation could further be reduced if they were a little less official and did not have to appear on the board’s agenda each week and be recorded by the clerk. But if all five supervisors were brought together for a simultaneous signing, county attorneys would have to determine if it would constitute a violation of the state’s open meeting law.

Wooldridge said the cost of the resolutions and proclamations in Orange County has to be much less than those in the city of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County, where officials use expensive calligraphy and “very nice” higher quality wood frames. Sometimes, he said, Los Angeles officials mount the document on a piece of wood and then laminate it.

But Judy Hammond, a senior aide to Los Angeles County Supervisor Pete Schabarum, said last week that because such ceremonies also seemed to be taking too much time from meetings there, Schabarum convinced the board to officially limit presentations to two per session for each member.