Still Waiting for Real County Reforms

It started off with a bang, this business of reinventing the government of Orange County. On election day, however, it ended with a whimper. Two whimpers, actually, Measure T and Measure U.

The first would have established a charter (a county constitution) and made some housekeeping changes in things such as appointed versus elective offices. The second would have increased the number of supervisors to nine from five. Welcome to the revolution. Now go home.

How odd. As soon as the dust from the bust had cleared, the mother of all shake-ups was underway. “Commissions for This” and “Committees for That” sprung up like dandelions. Their mission: Create a lean, mean, county government machine.

What happened to all that energy and enthusiasm? Simple. The government has “legs.” It just plain wears you down. Even after an extraordinary event like the bankruptcy, anti-government sentiment is rarely sustained.

The trouble with the county government is not just that it’s big or inefficient. The trouble is, it’s obsolete. The County of Orange was established in 1889. It was a sprawling agricultural community with a booming population of 13,000 and exactly three cities--Anaheim, Santa Ana and Orange. One hundred and seven years later, Orange County has been transformed to its core, but its ruling body remains virtually unchanged.

Interestingly enough, there have been major changes in how those services we still need from the county are provided--emergency services for unincorporated areas, transportation, the courts, etc. For the most part, it’s by departments virtually independent from the Board of Supervisors (ironically, one cause of the bankruptcy) or totally separate agencies.

All of which begs the question, why is there still a Board of Supervisors in a county where just 8% of the people live in unincorporated areas? At the end of the day, much of what the county does is administer state and federal programs.

But wait. Could a county of 2.5 million people survive without a centralized government? It is, in fact, quite possible to fundamentally change how we allow ourselves to be governed, in this case, as a county. The details are devilish, as always. But it can be done.

Maybe the next fiscal implosion will do the trick. Measure T and Measure U were almost relevant, but not quite. They now take their place in the dustbin of Orange County’s history, along with the Measure R sales tax campaign, the Pacific Coast Freeway and dreams of an American League pennant.