O.C. to Close Doors 1 Day Per 2 Weeks : Government: Board approves controversial plan to save money by shutting nonessential offices on every other Friday beginning Feb. 26.

Nearly three dozen county facilities, which offer the public everything from welfare assistance and health care to building permits and tax collection, will close down every other Friday beginning Feb. 26 under a controversial cost-cutting plan that was finalized Tuesday.

On a 4-1 vote, the Board of Supervisors agreed to put in place the plan that it approved in concept three months ago. The move came despite sharp criticism from Board Chairman Roger R. Stanton, who questioned whether the county could really save the $1.1 million a year projected by staff members.

“I’m just not convinced by those figures,” Stanton said. “I think we ought to be open five days a week--that’s the perception of government.”

Most offices will be open longer during the week to make up for the Friday shutdowns. But some community activists, business people and even county employees said the plan nonetheless threatens public service.

“It’s a real serious disservice to the citizens of Orange County,” said Hester Honda, staff attorney with Legal Aid of Orange County, an advocate for the poor. “There are enough problems now with access--with people having to wait in long, long lines to get in the door or see a worker.”

But backers of the plan predict that the county can save money by cutting down on both utility costs and employee sick days, and at the same time can help promote better air quality by reducing worker commutes. The new schedule will be tried for a year before the cost savings are evaluated.

“I believe our citizens want . . . to reduce the size of government,” said Supervisor Don R. Roth.

Orange County joins about 20 municipalities in Southern California that now close some of their departments for a few days each month. But Orange County appears to be easily the largest of local governments to enact such widespread closures, which mean a virtual shutdown of offices used by the public, officials said.

Services that are deemed essential, or whose hours are mandated by the state, will remain on a traditional five-day or seven-day weeks. These include the Sheriff’s Department, the court system, fire protection, parks, libraries and some round-the-clock medical services.

But most county departments will adopt the new schedule.

This will mean that 33 county facilities, housing more than 100 individual offices, will close down every other Friday beginning Feb. 26. To make up for the down time, most public offices will extend their working hours by an hour a day.

For instance, the county’s alcohol-abuse program headquarters at 1200 N. Main St. in Santa Ana, now open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., will open half an hour earlier and close half an hour later under the new schedule.

The largest employer in Orange County--public or private--county government will have 6,100 of its 16,000 employees on the new system.

But many are already on flexible schedules, and some employees said they don’t see any advantage to the new plan.

“We work nine-hour days anyway, so what this amounts to is just a real waste,” said Larry Bales, an employee in the assessor’s office. “It’s a charade on the public.”

Drawing the most concern from supervisors and the public alike at Tuesday’s meeting was the impact of shutting down the county recorder’s office for one day every other week, which will push back the closing dates on some property sales. Realtors say that could delay move-ins and cost home buyers money.

“This is one of those times when something sounds good in theory, but would be disastrous in practice,” warned Florence Lubow-Bell, president of the Huntington Beach-Fountain Valley Assn. of Realtors.

Several supervisors said they too were worried about the problem, and the board ultimately directed staff to meet with the realty industry to try to reach a compromise on the issue in the next month.

The new schedules cut across a wide swath of other county services as well, including welfare programs in the Social Services Agency; drug and alcohol-abuse programs, children’s services, disease control and other support programs from the Health Care Agency; property assessment appeals, and more.

County officials say they don’t think the new schedule should mean much of an inconvenience for the public.

At the Health Care Agency, where everything but 24-hour services will shut down every other Friday, Director Tom Uram said: “The essential things, we’ll keep open. I don’t see this being too traumatic at all.”

But some county employees were skeptical.

“I think it’s disgraceful,” said Victoria Leone, an assessor’s office employee who works with the public on business-property appraisals. “I can’t see where this is going to save any money, and now every other Friday, people are going to have to remember when not to come.”

And Ron Cowley, a document examiner in the recorder’s office, said that while he looks forward to having every other Friday off, he is worried about the effect on operations. “If we’re here to serve the public, we should be available to the public,” he said.

One problem with the flex system, officials said, is that meetings and group projects are often delayed because employees have different days off. “Everyone being on the same schedule is a real plus,” said Personnel Director Russ Patton.

Budget Director Ronald S. Rubino told supervisors before their vote that the new schedule should save the county more than $200,000 a year in utility costs because buildings will be closed down an extra day.

Also, he predicted that employees will be able to use their Fridays off for personal errands, cutting down on sick days used for that purpose. That, combined with less need for overtime, could save the county $918,000, he projected.

But Stanton told him, “That’s not a guarantee.”

Three-Day Weekends

Orange County supervisors on Tuesday approved a controversial plan to close many public offices every other Friday, beginning Feb. 26. The court system, the Sheriff’s Department, the Fire Department and county departments will be affected. These include:

Assessor’s office, 12 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana

Clerk of the Board of Supervisors, 10 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana

Environmental Management Agency. Includes applications for building permits. Four sites, all in Santa Ana.

Health Care Agency. Includes drug and alcohol abuse programs, disease control and children’s services. Eighteen sites countywide.

Social Services Agency. Includes all welfare programs. Twelve offices countywide.

Treasurer-tax collector. 14 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana

Source: County Administrative Office