NEWS ANALYSIS : Programs for Poor Suffer Deepest Cuts

Government services used by the poor will bear the brunt of the $40.2 million in budget reductions adopted Thursday as Orange County government tries to bail itself out of the worst municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.

High on the chopping block are three county programs heavily relied on by the county’s poorest citizens--health care, social services and defense attorneys for impoverished criminal defendants. Together, cutbacks in the three programs represent about $16.6 million, or 40%, of the total budget cuts approved by the County Board of Supervisors.

Largely spared from the fiscal bloodletting was the Environmental Management Agency, a giant bureaucracy that oversees residential, commercial and industrial development in unincorporated areas.

Also barely grazed by the budget ax were the Orange County Sheriff-Coroner’s Department and the district attorney’s office. Both agencies enjoyed budget increases exceeding 24% this year, and the sheriff and district attorney sat on the management committee that decided which budget cuts to present to the Board of Supervisors.

“In order to dig ourselves out of this mess, which is due to the board’s own lack of oversight, we must put it on the backs of the people who need welfare support,” said Mark A. Petracca, an associate professor of political science at UC Irvine. “They are the ones who can’t do much about it. They are the ones who don’t make campaign contributions.”

The supervisors approved $40,197,177 in cuts for 27 county departments and programs from the assessor’s office to the treasurer-tax collector’s office. All reductions must be fully achieved by June, the end of the fiscal year.

Supervisors relied on proposals from a three-member Operations Management Council of Sheriff Brad Gates, Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi and Health Care Agency Director Tom Uram.

“I think this was a mammoth undertaking,” Uram said. “It took place in nine intense days. We did the best job three people could do in dividing the hurt . . . (but) it’s not what I wanted to do when I grew up. I wouldn’t like to do it again.”

Not counting services directly benefiting the poor, the budget cuts are spread across the remaining 24 agencies and programs. Of those, the General Services Agency budget of $37 million was cut 12.4%. The budget for Human Resources, the county’s personnel office, was slashed almost 18% from $4.5 million.

The county administrative office’s budget of $6.3 million was reduced 11.6%. Cuts for each office of the Board of Supervisors ranged from 8.3% for the 3rd District to 19.8% for the 5th District, some of the largest reductions recommended.

The supervisors have come under extreme public scrutiny because of the bankruptcy, and polls indicate that a majority of Orange County residents blame them as much as now departed Treasurer Robert L. Citron for the financial collapse.

Faring far better were the district attorney’s office with a 1.1% reduction, the Sheriff-Coroner’s Department with a 0.7% reduction, and the Environmental Management Agency with a cut of less than 1%.

The cuts for the Sheriff’s Department and district attorney should hardly be felt because both agencies had funding increases this year of 24% and 31% respectively.

Of the programs often relied on by the poor, $3 million will be cut from the $235-million budget of the Health Care Agency, which oversees public health services, medical services and mental health programs. Uram pointed out that the cut was actually deeper than it might appear because only $13 million of his seemingly huge budget involves discretionary spending.

About $40 million of the agency’s overall budget comes from the county’s general fund. The rest is from fees and state and federal sources.

Uram said he did not anticipate that vital programs such as those intended to check the spread of communicable disease would be affected.

“The board’s direction was to protect public health and safety. I do not think the board will come through with cuts in those areas,” Uram said.

No salary cuts are planned, but layoffs are expected.

The county Social Services Agency, responsible for administering welfare programs, foster care and other benefits for the poor, suffered an $8.8-million, or 4.1%, reduction in its $213-million budget. On top of that is another $1-million cut from county welfare funds.

The reduction could affect programs funded largely by the state and federal governments, which rely on contributions from the county. But state officials said Thursday that there was no way to assess the effects because it was unclear where the cuts would be made.

Sidonie Squier), a spokesperson for the state Department of Social Services, said the county had not contacted the state about the cuts and state officials were very surprised by the recommendations.

County Social Services Director Larry Leaman could not be reached for comment.

Hardest hit was the county alternative defense budget of $12.7 million, which was reduced by $3.7 million, or 29%. The program provides private defense attorneys for impoverished adults and juveniles whenever the county public defender’s office cannot take their cases because of conflicts of interest, which occur when there are multiple defendants in a case.

Alternative defense also pays for court-appointed attorneys, and defense investigators and lawyers who have won competitive bids to handle major felony matters, including death penalty cases.

The dramatic reduction in the alternative defense budget will cause a shift of about 3,000 cases to the county public defender’s office, which must assume the caseload without any additional staff. Although the public defender’s office is now being asked to shoulder work that was done by court-appointed attorneys, it received an overall budget increase this year of almost 15% over the previous year.

“All we can do now is to get it done and preserve the integrity of our operation,” said Public Defender Ronald Y. Butler. “We’ll work harder than we have been. It’s a crisis, and my office is willing to do all it can to participate in the resolution of this crisis.”

But James L. Smith, the presiding Orange County Superior Court judge, said the public defender’s office is taking one of the hardest blows in the wake of the county’s bankruptcy.

“This will be one of the most problematic areas of the proposed cuts,” Smith said. “How can the public defender handle the additional cases? By working harder? I’m not sure they can. By providing less services? Is that what we want?”