ORANGE : Trailer to Be Staffed by City Employees

City government will have an office away from City Hall by the end of the month.

As part of the city’s attempts to address problems in the troubled El Modena neighborhood, a trailer that will be staffed by public servants has been placed in the parking lot of Albertson’s Food Center at 3325 E. Chapman Ave.

“The whole idea is to improve the quality of life for people who live in this area and in the apartments,” Mayor Gene Beyer said Thursday. “We’ve tried a lot of things over the years that are reactive, and I thought it was time to be more proactive in showing a presence and improving the quality of life in this area.”

The area, once the home of orange groves and the migrant workers who tended them, has in recent years seen a spiraling problem with quality-of-life issues, Beyer said. There are overcrowded apartment buildings, problems with gangs, graffiti, drugs and more serious crimes.

“The trailer is a renewed effort by the mayor, City Council and all the city departments,” said Jack McGee, director of community development. “What we’re looking at is a combined government effort.”

The trailer will contain two desks that will be occupied by city employees of such departments as police, fire, community services, building code enforcement and public works on a rotating basis.

But while residents are welcome to approach the officials in the trailer, its primary purpose is to house city employees doing work in the area and to allow the departments to interact.

“It’s an opportunity for the public to know who their officials are,” said Capt. Gene Hernandez, a patrol commander with the Orange police and police coordinator for the project.

Hernandez said that if the trailer is found successful after a review in about six months, city officials will consider similar projects in other neighborhoods.

As the mayor and other officials spoke about the trailer’s future use, workers were attempting to install a phone line for the portable office, which now contains only a desk, chair and framed poster.

“I’ve lived here my whole life,” resident Deborah Lurya said. “It makes me feel good they are trying to address the problems.”