County Should Spare 2 Service Commissions in Cutting Budget

The Orange County Board of Supervisors may soon vote to completely eliminate the Human Relations Commission following more than 20 years of effective service. It has taken decades of human relations work to reduce most indicators of cold-hearted local government indifference in matters concerning local human rights and decades to keep in check localized gravitations toward apartheid.

Completely eliminating funding for this commission is absurd, backward, and a shallow-minded management concept. It’s bound to cost our taxpayers millions more to resolve local human rights issues through litigation and through police-related cost, rather than maintaining qualified human relations staff to do so.

Like many well-managed private businesses, our government leaders should seriously consider first cutting layers of self-serving/preserving administrative fat to balance the budget, rather than having direct service providers and the taxpayer again shoulder related burdens.

The need for the Human Relations Commission remains critical as we face increases in the number of hate crimes and unprecedented group movements toward apartheid in Orange County. This is when the county should be increasing funding for human relations services to address such serious local problems or, at least, to afford a pressure-release mechanism for those community groups impacted by the loss or reduction of public services. Revolting taxpayers or courageous political leaders remain our only hope to first cut administrative fat, rather than services.

DAVID T. QUEZADA, Executive Director, Fair Housing Council of Orange County