Surprise, a Normal Workday

Thousands of government employees returning to work Monday were unaffected by the Y2K bug, and law enforcement agencies added up their overtime costs to prepare for a crisis that never happened.

Orange County began the first week of the new year with business as usual.

“We keep waiting for something to happen, but so far . . . it’s been a piece of cake,” said Leo Crawford, the county’s chief information officer.

Cities throughout the county also reported no computer glitches Monday, the first real test of how well local governments had prepared for the year 2000.

But while authorities were breathing a sigh of relief over the continued smooth running of city and county governments, food banks were hoping to reap the benefits of Y2K readiness, appealing for donations of stockpiled food and water from residents who had prepared for a millennial emergency.

The food banks, which feed thousands of people each day, saw a 50% drop in donated goods in late 1999 compared with ‘98, an alarming decline that some attributed to Y2K-induced food hoarding. The drop came at an especially bad time because holiday demand was up; now, many organizations are hoping to receive the hoarded provisions as donations.

“From the food perspective, we were affected by Y2K,” said Lisa Fujimoto, spokeswoman and vice president for the Orange County Rescue Mission. “We’re [now] looking to those who have been hoarding.” Fujimoto said donations were cut in half during October and November, traditionally strong months. In addition, the organization is facing an increased demand for services.

“If individuals are stocking up at home, they’re not donating,” Fujimoto said. “We did three times the drives we normally do, and we still came out short.”

One of the largest such charities, Second Harvest Food Bank, which feeds more than 180,000 people in Orange County every month, has started a “Y Go 2 Waste” campaign aimed at those with overflowing shelves.

“Despite the booming economy, despite economic prosperity, people are struggling to make ends meet,” said Nicole Thompson, the organization’s spokeswoman. “There are people who are hungry in Orange County. . . . For many, the choice is between food and rent.”

According to the last census, more than 400,000 people are at risk of going to bed hungry every month in Orange County, and more than 40% of those are children, Thompson said.

“Now that we know that everything is OK [with Y2K], we would like to encourage people to donate [surplus food],” Fujimoto said. “Because there are a lot of people who could use it.”

In contrast, government officials were congratulating themselves Monday on how well they had planned for Y2K.

The county spent more than $18 million in the last two years making sure that all its data storage systems were updated and Y2K-compliant, Crawford said.

As a precaution, he had a crew of 35 technicians work during New Year’s weekend, beginning Friday evening. They were ready to work Saturday, Sunday and Monday if necessary, he said.

But the rollover from 1999 to 2000 ran so smoothly that the county’s systems were checked and retested, and all work was completed by Saturday, Crawford said.

A sampling of cities reporting the cost of upgrading computers:

* Garden Grove spent “a whopping $22,000” getting computers Y2K ready, said Deputy City Manager Catherine Sandiford.

* Orange Assistant City Manager Rick Otto said the city spent about $1.5 million to upgrade its computers.

* Tustin spent about $500,000 on Y2K compliance software and hardware, said city Finance Director Ron Nault.

* Lake Forest spent $50,000 on hardware and software to prepare for Y2K, officials said.

* Irvine spent about $20,000, “most of it on computer checks” to make sure the city’s computers were Y2K-compliant, said spokesman Larry Larsen.

* Newport Beach City Manager Homer Bludau said the city spent about $100,000 to upgrade its telephones and computers.

* Costa Mesa spent about $1.5 million upgrading its computer software and hardware, said spokesman Richard Kirkbride.

* Stanton spent about $150,000 on computer upgrades, said city manager Terry Matz.

While Orange County and most cities were quick to report the cost of upgrading their computers for Y2K, officials were still trying to tabulate the overtime costs for fielding extra technicians and police on New Year’s Eve and early New Year’s Day.

But Sgt. Raul Luna, Santa Ana police spokesman, said his department was able to quickly tabulate overtime costs because officers were required to turn in time sheets Saturday.

“We got off cheap: It only cost us $19,000,” he said. Despite increasing the number of officers who normally work Friday night more than threefold, the department was able to minimize overtime by rearranging work schedules.

Fullerton police spokesman Sgt. Joe Klein said the city incurred $5,000 in overtime costs New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

“Some people may say that everyone overprepared for Y2K, but nobody is happier than the police that it turned out to be a nonevent,” Klein said.

*

Contributing to this report were Times staff writer David Reyes and correspondents Chris Ceballos, Anna Cholo-Tipton, Marissa Espino, Andrew Glazer, Anastacia Grenda, Deniene Husted, Noaki Schwartz, Judy Silber and Lesley Wright.