Budget Needs Deep but Judicious Cuts : * 2 Panels Targeted for Extinction Provide Vital Voices

For years the Orange County Board of Supervisors has been bracing for a major budget crunch and the layoffs and reduction of services they knew would eventually come. That crunch hit this year.

Before the adoption of a final budget, scheduled for Aug. 27, the supervisors must make up a $67.7-million shortfall in the county’s proposed $3.5-billion 1991-92 budget. That means deep cuts. But the reductions must also be judicious, so that they do not cut too close to the bone. To get the spending in line with income, the supervisors must take a scalpel to the budget, not a meat ax. Nothing is certain yet, but in budget sessions and cuts in the last few days, the board has zeroed in on “non-mandated” services, the programs the county is not legally required to provide. So, earmarked for extinction, along with other programs, are two vital commissions, the County Human Relations Commission and the Commission on the Status of Women.

The work that these two commissions do, legally required or not, must continue. There is no other county program taking on the tough and often unpopular human and social issues that these commissions have become so adept at handling.

The Human Relations Commission is the county’s social conscience. If a bigot burns a cross on a lawn or attacks an Asian on the street, the commission is there to fight prejudice. Its job is to rally the community against the ugly hate crimes that have become so frequent recently in all parts of the county. The commission has been a forum bringing the community together. Last March, the Orange County Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted a resolution recognizing the commission’s 20th anniversary, congratulating it for “outstanding achievements in creating an environment where diverse people can live together in harmony.”

In 1971, when the commission was formed, the county’s minority population was about 10%, and supervisors wisely saw the need to face the human problems and prejudices that seem to grow with an urban area. Today, the county’s minority population is about 35%, and the need for a human relations commission is even greater than the day it was created. So why kill it?

The Commission on the Status of Women has also proved itself invaluable. It is a small operation, dealing with large problems such as domestic violence and other issues vital to women. It handles about 200 calls a month from women, many in desperate need.

Combined, the two commissions account for about $430,000 a year out of the county’s proposed $3.5-billion budget. Certainly they must be subject to the same economies as the rest of the county services. Cut their budgets 5%. Ten percent. Even 20%, if need be. But not 100%.

The Veterans Service Office and an agency administering programs for the elderly were spared serious budget cuts, and the county public information office, which county staff recommended be eliminated, was kept by the supervisors, although sharply cut back. The Human Relations Commission and the Commission on the Status of Women deserve the same consideration. They have earned it in the trenches safeguarding the rights of the mostly unrepresented.

The supervisors still have time to readjust the error in their priorities. In the final budget, they should restore funds to keep the Human Relations Commission and Commission on the Status of Women alive, along with the hopes and dreams of all those without political voice whose rights and basic human needs they guard and champion.