Cuts’ Impact Will Be Felt Countywide

The budget cuts proposed Tuesday by Orange County’s chief executive officer stretch beyond the walls of county government into the homes of residents now facing the likelihood of higher trash fees, shuttered libraries and the early release of incarcerated gang members.

The layoffs of 1,040 county workers and the elimination of 563 other jobs from dozens of departments was jarring enough, but the announcement that county government would be closing a juvenile correction facility in Trabuco Canyon, a major landfill in Irvine and at least six public libraries made the budget cuts even more painful for county residents.

“When you have to reduce a budget by 40%, this kind of action is inevitable,” said Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi, one of the management council team members helping with the cuts. “I think people should watch very, very closely and heed the concern that the quality of life that we’ve enjoyed in Orange County could be affected.”

In recommending that the county’s budget be reduced from $463 million to $275 million, Chief Executive Officer William J. Popejoy said that almost all programs would have be cut in some way, even those that members of the Board of Supervisors had sought to protect.

Of all the departments that provide public protection, the Probation Department took the biggest hit, $11 million. Popejoy recommended closing both the Joplin Youth Center, where juveniles accused of “serious and violent offenses” are incarcerated, and work furlough centers in Anaheim and Brea, which allow criminals to work by day and be kept away from the public in custody at night.

Closing the 60-bed Joplin Center, which opened in 1956, would mean that those youths, most of whom were in gangs, will “probably be returned to the community,” Popejoy’s report noted. Ending the work furlough programs, with their 110 beds, “will exacerbate jail overcrowding, increase early release of inmates and reduce judicial sentencing options,” the report predicts.

The county is under a longstanding court order to reduce the number of inmates in its overcrowded jail system.

Tuesday’s news was sobering for police, who believe it will present them with a new set of problems.

“We know the county’s in deep trouble, but those kind of cuts are going to cause us long-term problems,” Garden Grove Police Capt. David Abrecht said of the closure of Joplin Youth Center.

“The local police departments are going to be the ones that are going to really have to deal with them,” Abrecht said. “If these programs aren’t in place then we’re dealing with these same small percentage of people over and over again. We’ve got no safety net.”

Shutting down work the county’s only two work furlough programs for adult offenders also removes a key part of the criminal justice system, law enforcement officials said.

“It is unfortunate that that particular program is eliminated because it takes an opportunity away from people who are rehabilitatable,” noted Buena Park Police Chief Richard M. Tefank. “Those individuals now would either have to serve custody time or they are going to be out in the community unsupervised.”

Popejoy has recommended cutting $18.4 million from the Social Services Agency, but the reduction would means that another $52.8 million in federal and state matching funds would be lost. The chief executive said the cuts would mean that social worker caseloads for welfare and adult services would increase to 160% of what they should be during the current fiscal year. Mental health services for children and adults would also be reduced.

“This is projected to have a significant negative impact on the agency’s ability to receive and investigate child and adult abuse cases (and) to support foster care families,” Popejoy wrote.

Jean Forbath, a board member of Costa Mesa’s Share Our Selves, gasped when told of the proposed new cuts to social services.

“It’s very difficult to be poor in Orange County to begin with. With these cuts, it’s going to be almost impossible,” Forbath said.

Forbath also argued that the large number of layoffs would simply exacerbate the problem because newly unemployed people will be seeking help from agencies with drastically slashed budgets.

“We’re going to have many more homeless families,” she said. “There are going to be more people in Orange County looking for social services that never thought they’d have to.”

Popejoy’s report also indicates that he wants to chop “at least six” of the county’s more than two dozen libraries, slashing 45 positions and $5.6 million from the library program. The report suggests that “reducing the number of operating libraries is the only practical course of action.”

Marion Oberhauser, a former volunteer worker at a library serving Leisure World, said she feels “terrible” about the closings and the effect such action will have on children.

“The children use the libraries so much,” Oberhauser said. “It’s a wonderful way for them to get started on the right path.”

The enormity of the cuts and the varied programs that will feel their wrath make longtime county officials shudder.

“When you close something like Joplin, and six libraries, and adult and child mental health services, I think those are the best indicators of just how serious things are,” said County Clerk-Recorder Gary A. Granville. “Now it’s time for the piper to be paid. He’s being paid most severely.”

Granville has no more cuts to make, because the departments of clerk and recorder were shrunk when they were combined this year. But he worried about the ripple effect from the large-scale layoffs throughout the Civic Center.

“Something that people forget is that a county government payroll spreads out through the community,” Granville said. “It pays rent, it buys things at department stores, it buys groceries. It takes mothers and fathers to the movies on Saturday nights.

“The county employees are consumers, so you’ve lost that buying impact. All of these cuts will total $185 million,” he added. “That’s a lot of buying power: new homes, upgraded apartments, cars. It will be felt.”

Times staff writer Anna Cekola contributed to this report.