Bankruptcy Opens New Avenues to Scouts

Boy Scouts are taught to offer a helping hand to those in need.

But in post-bankruptcy, post-Proposition 13 Orange County, an increasing number of Scouts are offering their services to an unlikely group: cash-strapped cities, school districts and other government agencies.

Eagle Scout candidates in La Palma, for example, recently restored a campfire ring, inspected trees in parks and traffic medians, and conducted a safety survey of all 127 city stop signs.

“This is the kind of stuff that’s important but often falls through the cracks,” said Janet Cates, La Palma’s community services supervisor. “The Eagle Scout proves himself as a budding adult, and he helps the city at the same time.”

Though individual efforts may be modest, government officials say, the cumulative effect has been significant as Scouts perform necessary community improvement that might otherwise go undone.

Ken Gibbs, Scout executive of the Boy Scouts’ Orange County division, attributed the increase in government-related projects to new merit badge requirements that emphasize community service and citizenship.

“There’s a new focus on the responsibilities that individuals have to society and the community,” Gibbs said. “That has stimulated a lot of great things taking place.”

Scouts have tackled public service projects for decades. But the efforts are now garnering new appreciation from government officials as they struggle to maintain services in the wake of budget cuts and declining tax revenue.

La Palma and many other cities now assign staff members to coordinate Scout projects with various municipal departments to reap the maximum benefit from the volunteer work.

The county’s Harbors, Beaches and Parks Department has taken the relationship one step further by forming a formal “partnership” with local Boy Scout organizations.

Under the plan, park rangers are drafting lists of potential projects that Scouts could complete for merit badges or to become Eagle Scouts. Activities might range from creating an inventory of park plant life to studying ecology issues.

“It gives boys and girls a healthy outlet in a natural setting,” said Robert G. Fisher, director of the Harbors, Beaches and Parks Department. “A lot of people on our ranger staff indicated that they gained their appreciation for the outdoors through Scouting.”

The parks department can use the help. Because of the county bankruptcy, the agency will lose $90 million in tax revenue over the next 20 years.

More than 90,000 youths are now involved in Scouting programs across Orange County. But the most ambitious community service projects are carried out by the roughly 300 teens a year who become Eagle Scout candidates.

Scouting rules require candidates to perform projects “of lasting value to the community.” The activities must involve research and planning that goes beyond simple maintenance work.

In La Palma, one Eagle Scout inspected every stop sign in the city to check for vandalism and weather damage, and to determine whether the reflective coating still worked. City public works officials will use his findings to replace defective signs.

“We will still do the labor and pay for the signs,” La Palma City Manager Daniel E. Keen said. “But this is a step in the process that has been done for us. It has provided valuable information.”

Without the Scout’s effort, Keen said, the city probably would not replace some of the signs until someone complained. “We would eventually get to it, but it would take a lot longer because of the press of other priorities,” he said.

In Cypress, 16-year-old Kenneth Sterk recently completed his Eagle Scout project: cross-checking 11,000 home and condominium addresses against those on Police Department emergency maps.

The Servite High School student recruited more than 50 people to help with the effort, which Sterk describes as a success.

“The city didn’t have the money or manpower to do it, so we were able to help out,” he said. “I hope what we did was help stop a criminal.”