COUNTYWIDE : County Sets Up Suggestion Line

The county’s new toll-free citizen suggestion line has gone into operation, and county officials are hopeful the voice-mail service will generate both public goodwill and ideas for better government.

The line is meant to field citizen suggestions on ways to streamline, cut costs, improve access or otherwise better the county’s varied services.

Besides leaving recorded suggestions at (800) 251-4303, Orange County citizens are invited to send their written ideas and constructive criticisms via facsimile machine to (714) 834-3018.

“I’m really excited about this because it’s a quick and simple way to let people know we want their ideas and to give them a way to get them to us,” said Supervisor Thomas F. Riley, who presented the idea to his fellow supervisors in June.

Riley said that while citizen ideas--or, even more often, complaints--come through his office daily, he is certain an even greater number of people have opinions they never express because they are dissuaded by inconvenience or the government’s sometimes daunting bureaucracy.

‘A lot of people have a thought, but they think nothing will happen if they call, or they don’t know where to call in the first place,” Riley said.

“This will make it easy for them to pick up the phone and say ‘We need a stop sign here’ or ‘Do this to help the libraries.’ ”

While caller candor is appreciated, administrative manager Richard Keefe said, the phone line is not intended to be a complaint service.

People with problems or a desire to bash county government should call or write their district representative on the Board of Supervisors, Keefe said.

“We’re meaning this to be essentially just for suggestions,” Keefe said. “If someone has a complaint, they really should be talking to someone in an elected position.”

All calls will be transcribed and, along with faxed missives, reviewed for practicality.

If there are concepts or observations that might be helpful to county officials or employees, they will be passed on to the proper department.

Keefe said no one can really predict how busy or effective the line will be, but he is hopeful it will be the source of some pertinent suggestions.

He said county staff will report the number of calls, their content and effects to supervisors in quarterly updates.

Beyond staffing expenses, the toll-free number cost the county $50 to install, and Keefe said it would cost about $15 a month to continue the service.

There is also an hourly rate on actual conversation time that probably will add no more than an additional $10 to the monthly charges.