YORBA LINDA : City OKs $10,000 for Child-Care Study

The City Council narrowly voted to spend $10,000 on a study of child-care needs in Yorba Linda and Placentia despite objections that day-care problems should be left to the private sector to solve.

The council’s 3-2 vote Tuesday came after nearly a year of lobbying by a child-care task force to get funding for the $28,000 study, which supporters say is a pressing problem in an area with a large percentage of two-income families.

Earlier this year, the Placentia City Council agreed to grant $10,000 for the study and the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District chipped in $8,000. But the grants were to be made only if the Yorba Linda City Council funded the study as well.

The proposal calls for a consultant to determine child-care needs, survey the supply of care, propose options for child-care programs and outline funding sources. Supporters say that the professional study could help get grants and private donations for child care.

“It’s just not a matter of numbers,” said Connie Haddad, a member of the task force who has led the effort to get funding for the study. “People have special needs and special concerns.”

Opponents had questioned the need for the study, which they fear could lead to city governments bearing the costs of child-care programs.

“This problem is a private sector problem and should be solved by the private sector,” said Councilman Gene Wisner, who voted against the study along with Councilman John M. Gullixson. “ . . . We’re spending taxpayer’s money, and I don’t like it.”

A day-care provider also argued that the study would be a waste of money.

“To spend $10,000 to see if there is a child-care need is the same as spending $10,000 to see if Yorba Linda needs more restaurants,” said Nola Hatch, who operates a preschool for nearly 200 students in Yorba Linda. “It’s the same thing. It’s interfering with private enterprise.”

But Councilman Irwin M. Fried pointed to other cities that have spent money on programs such as a shelter for abused women.

“Times have changed,” he said. “Those are all social programs that the county is not meeting.”

Last month, council members rejected funding for the study in a 3-2 straw vote. At the time, Mayor Mark Schwing said he would change his vote only if the task force found an acceptable lead agency and if it was shown that the private sector was willing to donate money for the study as well.

Since then, the task force raised over $2,500 from businesses and individuals, including Price Club, Rockwell International, Fullerton Savings and the League of Women Voters.

“In most cases it requires two incomes to live here,” said Harry Elliot, a member of the Chamber of Commerce and the task force. “We recognize a problem and we wanted to see if we could figure out a solution.”

On Tuesday, Yorba Linda council members voted to make the city the lead agency, provided the city of Placentia and the school district agree to it. Council members said they wanted a public entity as the lead agency to make sure they had a direct “audit trail” to check where the money for the study goes.

A majority of council members also voted to put the contract for the study out to bid. Months ago, Irvine-based Child Care Planning Associates told the task force that it would do the study for $28,000, and it is not known whether any other consulting firm will bid for the work, Haddad said.