PERSPECTIVE : Government Reformers Face Delicate Balancing Act

Like many of her neighbors, Garden Grove resident Barbara Anderson says she’s fed up with city and county government and proclaims wholehearted support for the concept of the year: restructuring.

But mention one downsizing proposal under consideration--disbanding her city’s Fire Department in favor of contract service from the county fire authority--and Anderson’s zeal wanes.

“I think we have a good Fire Department. I don’t see the purpose of messing with it,” she said warily. “I don’t think people will look on that as a good idea.”

Anderson’s response underscores the delicate task facing reformers as they set out to crash some of the walls--and egos--that have long prevented cities, special districts and the county from working together in the name of greater efficiency.

Some cities have embraced the idea of sharing costs and responsibilities for a host of municipal services ranging from curbside recycling to jail bookings.

Now the approach is receiving more attention in the wake of the county bankruptcy, which left many agencies with tight budgets and a public mandate for reform.

Experts say that governments can save substantial sums by taking advantage of economies of scale and eliminating duplications in services.

But for restructuring to succeed, it must be sensitive to the concerns of residents, who are often skeptical of expanded bureaucracies and take comfort in having important services provided by officials they know and trust.

“Local control is big in Orange County,” said Dennis Aigner, dean of the UC Irvine Graduate School of Management, who has studied county government reform.

“But people have to realize that local control can only be paid for to a certain point,” Aigner said. “We can’t afford it anymore. We have to give up some local control to get a more efficient government.”

City and county leaders are addressing that fact with a flurry of restructuring plans. While the proposals differ sharply as to which entities keep the most control, they all acknowledge the need to foster greater innovation and cooperation among governments.

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Later this month, for example, a citizens committee appointed by the Board of Supervisors will unveil specific recommendations for consolidating services and making local governments work better.

At the same time, the League of California Cities is forming a Council of Governments that will examine ways that municipalities and other county agencies can team up to meet federal and state mandates to compile data about everything from air quality to demographics.

“Given the dwindling resources agencies face, they can’t afford a specific staff person assigned to these issues,” said Janet Huston, executive director for the league’s Orange County division, noting that about 20 cities have already joined the council.

“This is a place where people can sit down and ask how to do things better,” she said. “I don’t think folks can afford not to consider alternative ways for providing service.”

Some agencies aren’t waiting to begin merging services. The cities of Seal Beach, Cypress and Los Alamitos decided last month to combine police communications systems in a move projected to save each municipality about $80,000 a year. The three cities already share the cost of recycling services.

This month seven other cities, including Anaheim and Huntington Beach, agreed to consolidate emergency dispatch operations, which is expected to save nearly $900,000 a year.

Many smaller or recently incorporated cities already contract with the Sheriff’s Department and the Orange County Fire Authority, finding the arrangements more cost-effective than having their own departments.

A survey by the county’s Government Practices Oversight Committee found considerable city interest in merging a variety of other functions such as recreation services, tree trimming, utility billing and animal control.

“There needs to be a lot of cooperation,” said Mary Ann Schulte, chairwoman of the oversight committee. “Territorial stuff will not work in this environment. We have to look at the benefits of the whole.”

But a far-reaching restructuring effort is bound to face some obstacles--not only from turf-protecting officials but also from concerned citizens.

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While the public seems to support the idea of reform, many residents don’t want to give up being able to get government help simply by calling their neighbor the council member or other familiar city officials with whom they have dealt for years.

UC Irvine’s 1995 Orange County Annual Survey found that 68% of respondents opposed the idea of combining county and city government into a single entity. Indeed, in the past decade five South County communities have opted to form their own cities rather than be governed by county officials in Santa Ana.

But Huston and others said they think a system can be devised that would allow cities to enjoy the economies of regional services while still giving locally elected officials the freedom to address constituent concerns.

“You can have a City Council but not necessarily have your own fire department,” Huston said.

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Reworking Government

Some of the reform panels now at work and the proposals being considered:

Council of Governments: A League of California Cities group studying how local governments can save money by sharing responsibility for some services and mandates, and seeking ways to give cities a stronger voice in regional affairs.

Government Practices Oversight Committee: Citizens panel appointed by the Board of Supervisors to examine ways of making county government more efficient.

State Constitutional Revision Commission: Revisions would likely give local agencies more control over the programs they operate.

South County restructuring study: Twenty-two South County water and sewer districts could be consolidated into five larger agencies, according to a consultant’s report released last month.

Curt Pringle proposal: A bill by the Assembly Speaker would create one countywide authority to run the more than two dozen independent water and sewer agencies.

Source: Times reports; Researched by SHELBY GRAD/For The Times