Accept Union Help to Overcome Debacle : Finances: Probably no one knows as much about how public services are provided here as unionized government workers. Labor groups have helped other local governments that have fallen on fiscal hard times.

Crisis breeds opportunity. That should be the lesson Orange County officials learn as they unravel the knotty problems of the county’s spectacular nose-dive into bankruptcy. The opportunity is real but can only be grasped if public workers are involved as part of the solution, not scape-goated as part of the county’s problem. But that challenges Orange County government leaders to move away from us-versus-them relations with its public sector unions.

The first moves of the Board of Supervisors did not augur well in this regard. Its decision to lay off public service workers without regard to union contract provisions has thankfully been rolled back in federal Bankruptcy Court. In the meantime, county officials have been ordered to bargain with the affected unions, including the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents about 1,500 workers who screen county residents for welfare eligibility.

From the earliest days of this crisis, AFSCME and the other unions have offered to build upon a recent history of constructive labor relations to seek fair solutions to the numerous county service problems. Unfortunately, county leaders have appeared more interested in unilateral actions--trying to breach contracts--leading to adversarial rather than collaborative relations.

If working together is their goal, they must now understand that deciding lay-offs based upon the personal preferences of department heads, an open door to favoritism, was a grievous error.

The blame for this fiscal debacle doesn’t rest with labor contracts, but rather excessive borrowing to speculate in exotic securities so risky that some Wall street experts actually call them “toxic waste.”

It wasn’t front-line county employees who lost at least $1.69 billion in public equity when the investment pool came crashing to Earth. County officials caused this problem, after all. Now if they decide wisely, they will accept our offer to help. If so, we can contribute to the county’s plan to get back on its feet.

Public sector unions are, in fact, a unique source of expertise on sound public policy and more efficient public management. And why not? Probably no one in Orange County knows as much about how public services are provided as our members. And their union backs them when they speak candidly about how to make the changes needed to ensure that tax dollars are paying for quality services.

Front-line employees have worked closely and creatively with other local governments when they have fallen into fiscal hard times. We can do it again in Orange County.

Make no mistake about it; not all of our solutions are suggestions that people want to hear. We think that taxes will have to be raised to solve this crisis. Let’s remember that it was fallout from Proposition 13 that drove county managers to adopt--and politicians to condone--the practices that led to fiscal ruin. Orange County has the tax base upon which to build a bright future.

It’s irresponsible to rule out increased revenues as one step in an overall recovery program. On a similar note, Orange County should take care not to cut those programs targeted to its most vulnerable residents--families in need, children, the disabled and the elderly.

All Orange County residents--public employees included--want high-quality public services. Privatization of county services is simply unnecessary to achieve that, and it requires adding room for profit in the charges paid by the public. Finally, it erodes public oversight and control of service providers and shortchanges the expertise of existing employees and their unions.

Orange County managers and employees must work together to deliver services more efficiently, to cut red tape and bureaucratic bloat. County employees are willing to bear a share of the burden at this time. But opportunity beckons, too, from this crisis--the opportunity to redesign government and empower employees to work more productively, not lay them off.