Four Cities Sharing Services to Help Reduce Costs : Government: Los Alamitos, Cypress, Seal Beach and La Palma are using a consultant in common; three of the cities share court officer.

Hurt by state budget cuts, Los Alamitos, Seal Beach, Cypress and La Palma are spreading the pain around.

With a combined population of about 60,000, the neighboring cities have begun to share services, equipment and employees to reduce costs. Although no immediate consolidation of services is expected, discussions are underway to combine police dispatching, disaster preparedness programs, animal control services, purchasing and vehicle maintenance.

“The state budget cuts added a new dimension (to the discussions). Now we’re looking at even deeper ways to reduce our costs,” said Seal Beach City Manager Jerry L. Bankston.

But Los Alamitos City Manager Robert C. Dunek said this is not an indication of panic.

“This is a simple, professional way to evaluate services and see what you can do to save money,” he said.

The cities have agreed to use a common court liaison officer and a consultant to handle recycling programs and to monitor compliance with state law on diverting solid waste away from landfills.

Los Alamitos, Cypress, and Seal Beach, which are within the West Orange County Judicial District, will share the services of a court liaison officer while La Palma, which is in the North Judicial District, will share in the services of the waste management consultant.

Cypress, which will provide the court liaison, will pay about $55,000 annually. Seal Beach will pay about $13,000 and Los Alamitos about $8,400. A liaison officer tracks court-related matters for police.

“It’s an easy process. If it were to be a four-part agreement, you create a new entity, with payroll, workers’ compensation and all. It’s not our desire to create another local government. Our intention is to save money, not spend it,” Bankston said.

Dunek said he favors separate agreements among cities rather than one contract that would give joint powers to the cities and risk problems of who would control.

“You lose a certain amount of control when you sign a joint powers agreement. In effect, a third party dictates what you want to do in your community. When citizens complain, you may not be able to react right away,” Dunek said.

Dunek said that in the future cities are likely to consolidate certain services, particularly fire and police protection, which may result in creating special districts.

Currently, most Orange County cities have mutual-aid agreements on fire services and several use a common dispatching center as do Garden Grove, Anaheim and Orange.

At least 16 other cities have started discussions on the formation of a fire district, according to Garden Grove City Manager George Tindall.

Tindall said there is a growing awareness among cities to share services, particularly in the areas of police and fire protection and compliance with state and federal mandates.

“We’re looking at more consolidation of police and fire services in this side of the county,” Tindall said. He said the city officials are also discussing issues related to jails, air quality, sewer and drainage permits, among others.

“We’re going to work together, and we’re working together,” Tindall said.

Some Orange County cities are extending police and other services with other cities. Brea, for example, provides police services to Yorba Linda and recreational services to Diamond Bar. It has become a steady source of income for Brea and helped balance its $26.2-million budget this year.

According to Orange City Manager Ron Thompson, Anaheim provides the services of a hazardous material response team to Orange. In addition, the two cities are looking at consolidating their police dispatching.

“Given the state of the budget, we have to look much closer on how we work to be cost-effective,” Thompson said.

He said with fire and police services taking at least 60% of city budgets, more consolidation of those services among neighboring cities is to be expected.

To smaller cities, another critical area is compliance with stringent state mandates, like AB 939, the state law enacted in 1989 to extend the life of landfills.

The law requires cities to divert 25% of trash away from landfills by 1995 and 50% by the year 2000. There are strict guidelines for reporting, and failure to comply means a fine of $10,000 a day, until compliance is met.

It will be hard to meet the rigid requirements of the law, Dunek said. “It doesn’t make sense for a city our size to hire someone to exclusively perform that function,” he said.

La Palma City Manager Pamela Gibson said the sharing arrangement gives them the confidence that someone is monitoring compliance at reasonable cost. Currently, her assistant, Brigitte Charles, is performing that function.

“It’s one of my hats. But, I’m stretched a little thin already,” Charles said. “The consultant will be doing the nuts and bolts of it from now on.”

Cypress City Manager Darrell Essex said sharing service will not result in big savings immediately.

“The cities won’t be saving thousands of dollars. However, rather than having each of us hiring a staff or consultant for this job, we’ll use just one,” Essex said.

Essex said Cypress will provide the services of the waste management consultant, who will represent the four cities on county meetings, monitor state legislation on trash collection and disposal and conduct public information campaigns.

The consultant will work for about 20 to 25 hours per week for all four cities at a rate of $38.50 per hour, Essex said.

As cities grapple with increasing costs and dwindling resources, privatization of certain services, like public works, has become attractive. Dunek said many cities are now using private contractors to work on storm drains, sewage, and street improvements.