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Horns will lock over county layoffs
December 30th, 2008, 6:30 am · 44 Comments · posted by Teri Sforza, Register staff writer
Gary Burton, Secret Weapon.
The County of Orange’s former chief financial officer - who helped it emerge from bankruptcy and knows just where the bones are buried - has been hired by the Orange County Employees Association to comb through that most transparent and entertaining of documents, the county budget.
Burton’s mission: To find alternatives to the cuts now on the chopping block, which will ax 211 or so social workers next week in an effort to deal with shrinking state funding.
OCEA general manager Nick Berardino declined to say how much the union is paying Burton. (That’s Berardino below, yelling into the bullhorn.)
Staffers at the county’s Social Services Agency were originally expected to get pink slips this week, but layoffs are now slated to begin Monday, Jan. 5. (Happy New Year and all.)- Another 58 workers from the Probation Department are expected to go as well.
- And Sheriff Sandra Hutchens is expecting a $20 to $30 million shortfall next year, and a $40 million-plus shortfall the year after. ”There is no doubt that we will be making serious reductions in the services that we provide to the public,” she wrote the day after Christmas. “We will all be sharing the burden through deferred salary increases, reductions in overtime, reductions in annual leave payoffs, and experiencing the frustration of seeing the services that we provide to the public being reduced.”
As the economy tanks, so do state and county finances. Orange County is expecting an $86 million hole in its budget over the next fiscal year.
The Social Services cuts will save some $30 million. The Probation Department cuts, about $8 million.
Former CFO Burton will help the county’s largest union present an alternative slice-and-dice plan to the Board of Supervisors. The union’s current rallying cry is “Chop at the top!”, as evidenced last week when 1,000 workers protested at the Hall of Administration. (See more photos of the rally here.)
“We understand there has to be reductions,” Berardino said. “But workers in the public sector are suffering from the excesses and extravagances of executives the same as in the private sector. And we believe that before any working families are put out on the street, you need to reduce these extravagances and perks for the executives.”
The union points to:
- a safety-related remodel of the Board of Supervisors’ lobby, costing some $326,000;
- executive car allowances of $765 per month, per executive;
- and an executive retirement program that the union calls “obscene” - giving supervisors and county executives a package almost as generous as the one supervisors are fighting in court to take away from public safety employees.
Most workers covered by the OCEA got raises of at least 3 percent in June.
Layoffs in Social Services are mostly based on seniority, but there is a component tucked into the formula to take performance into consideration. If you’ve been working for the county for many years, but had an unsatisfactory performance evaluation, you lose seniority points.
Hundreds of workers are now nervously calculating their chances of survival. The union and the county were in mediation Monday, but little is expected to come of it.
Layoffs will include office workers and eligibility technicians- the people who determine whether applicants qualify for Medi-Cal and similar programs - but the primary group affected will be social workers, Berardino said.
That’s expected to translate into less services for the most vulnerable. Victims of child abuse, who now get face time with a social worker once a month, will be seen once every two months or so, Berardino said.
In the Probation Department, fewer juveniles will be held in detention, instead awaiting court hearings at home with electronic bracelets.
More pain is clearly coming. And when it does, the union will be there with its competing plan. It should be interesting.
More Watchdog:
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If the state stopped all of the free services to illegal aliens the budget would be balanced immediately. Stop the PRUCOL medical and welfare to anchor babies. Stop the WIC and housing. Stop the CFAP food stamp programs. California is the only state that gives all these freebies. What will happen when there are no workers to authorize these programs? Will we see waves of illegal aliens protesting?
Thank goodness someone is watching the County budget - the Board of Supervisors is so busy pursuing their own political agendas and kowtowing to the Lincoln Club they’ve become economically tone deaf. Campbell just wants to retire from public life into some cushy part-time consultant work, Bates is around only when she can schedule around fundraisers, Norby is planning his next gig at the public trough, Moorlach is busy running for governor/senator/president/king of the universe or whatever other self-delusional future he sees for himself, and Nguyen is just running scared. Orange County’s electeds have long been a joke in Sacramento in beyond - now their even a joke in their own County.
Thank goodness someone is watching the County budget - the Board of Supervisors is so busy pursuing their own political agendas and kowtowing to the Lincoln Club they’ve become economically and politically tone deaf. Campbell just wants to retire from public life into some cushy part-time consultant work, Bates is around only when she can schedule around fundraisers, Norby is planning his next gig at the public trough, Moorlach is busy running for governor/senator/ president/king of the universe or whatever other self-delusional future he sees for himself, and Nguyen is just running scared. Orange County’s electeds have long been a joke in Sacramento and beyond - now they’re even a joke in their own County.
You democrats wanted change you voted for change now your getting change. Thats why the conservative republican states have a surplus and the liberal democrat states are going broke?
Still, we can save more money by laying off hundreds of employees than cutting a few perks for the management. And we save the future retirement costs of the laid off employees. Lastly, a little house cleaning from time to time is always a good thing. Now the staff with lowest performance ratings can be let go, and if/when things get better we might be able to get better workers since we’ll have a larger pool of candidates. Of course, if seniority is involved all bets are off. We’ll pay higher salaries than we need to, and still have the marginal employees. Experience does not translate to work ethic or performance, just higher salaries than the market place would demand.
If you look at the top picture, it appears as though the people marching have the same exact body type. I believe you can achieve this body type when you work for the government and sit and a desk all day. This familiar body type usually includes the behaviors of clock-watching, eating more calories than you should, hiding behind voice mail and having an attitude of entitlement.
Kudos. Excellent observation. That is the result of standing at the feeding trough all day long. They should have a fat tax for all orange county workers. For every pound they are overweight $10 should be deducted from their pay. That would undoubtedly save the county taxpayers $millions$. That would be my proposal. Everyone would win. The taxpayers would save money. Fewer workers would get laid off. The trough feeders would be much healthier and productive workers. And to think that I’m giving away this advice for free!
Its so funny that all these bitter people are commenting about people who work at local government agencies and that they are overweight and so on. Seriously, how about START WORKING and figure it out, help each other out. It doesn’t matter if you are illegal or not, black or white, overweight or skinny, everyone needs to grow up and face reality.
I forget how sad this conservative county is, I shall pray for all you BITTER HATING PEOPLE. As for the workers of OC, I wish you the best, keep fighting!
I hope that ocbandit and ocobserver are only trying to get a response from all other readers. If you are not, you are truly coming across as ignorant. Good idea! Let’s make a generalization about ALL county workers based on one picture featured in this article. Don’t stray from reality. Focusing on weight does not take away from that fact that hundreds of employees will soon begin to feel the impact of this budget crisis. I especially detest how you say county workers are at a feeding trough all day. Are they animals? Obviously you’ve never been in an SSA office yourself to see what these employees offer the citizens of Orange County. Do your homework and come up with a solution before you criticize something that’s completely unrelated to the issue at hand. Hang in there county workers! There are people out here who still support your hard work and appreciate it.
If Hutchens is so worried about $$, why is she implementing a full-time SWAT team? To crush crime in Dana Point? Mission Viejo? What a waste! She is such a rookie she is letting her L.A. underlings run rampant…
I always become very annoyed when these fools state that we spend all day doing nothing. Most of us have far more on our plates than we can handle. Hey OCbandit (bandit, how quaint), how many of us do you even know? Maybe you’ve met some of our law enforcement personnelle and are a little resentful that they did their jobs and interferred with your little life. Most of us work our butts off every day. To serve the people of OC. We don’t expect to get rich and most of us have no aspirations to that. Of course if you’ve done nothing with your life I guess it’s easy to lash out at people wqho have tried hard to make a difference. Oh btw, 6″ 2″ 190 lbs. Sound like a barn animal to you OC bandito?
To the two of you referring to the county workers as “fat” I assume. Don’t tell me there are not any fat people in your family….maybe your mother, father, sister, aunt, grandmother, your wife/gf. What a disgrace you are to your family. Maybe OCBandit and OCObserver should hook up. You know what I’m saying!
As a County employee, I would dearly love to see all co-workers with below standard evaluations hit the bricks. There’s quite a lot of them. But it’s rare for this substandard performance to reach eyes and ears of HR. In many instances, the supervisors of these employees are not allowed to submit a substandard evaluation or the evaluation is rewritten so as to couch the behavior in “nice’ words. Supervisors are not able to remedy the situation. While the union has its’ place,it’s the union who is protecting these employees. It’s sort of like a murderer bringing suit against the survivors families. Just makes you shake your head.
So, Ray Stratton, let me get this straight: It’s ok to lay off workers to get the desired effect on the budget but it’s also ok for the fat-cat executives and their staff to get more money for a car allowance that some people take home in their paycheck in a month? It’s ok to furlough county workers who actually do work their butts off for the people of this county while the fat-cat executives get paid-for pensions? Sure, we could say that $765 per month, $9,180 per year times, let’s say, 75 executive fat-cats = $688,500 per year. Oh, wait, that’s twice as much as the remodel of the fat-cat BoS office that you will probably never see unless you are a gun-toting maniac after a certain well-known fat-cat BoS. Let’s see, taken all together, that would equal about $1 million dollars. Not much, but it would keep 64 juvenile criminals behind bars, allow the appropriate servicing of about 1,000 people who actually need social services to help/protect/keep safe. What part of this equation don’t you see? The employees have said over, and over that they are willing to accept their share of the cuts if the executive “team” will start acting like leaders of the county rather than leaders of the big three automakers.
Hey OCBandit and OCObserver… next time you need the help of the OC Sheriff’s Department perhaps you should share your “observations” with the officers that respond on the scene. Yours is the typical response of people that are the first ones to complain about County workers then are the first ones in line to complain when they can’t get police or fire response quickly enough. I sure hope neither one of you loses your job and needs County services. Let’s see how eager you’ll be then to rant about workers that “feed at the trough.”
You know it is amazing to me that there are so many people out there that think nothing gets done by county employees but we have more and more people that come thru our doors each and every day needing help, If the county employee doesn’t do anything but sit around and eat all day how do so many people get helped? Granted there are some people that take their job for granted and others who make things worse for people at the office…but the majority of workers are dedicated to helping others that need it. I for one would love to see the people that have below standard evaluations get the boot, they waste time, money and space in the workplace and accomplish nothing. Let them be the first to go. Shouldn’t matter how many service hours they have. The BoS is only interested in what they get out of their position. They don’t care about me..I made less than $32,000. last year. I pay into my own retirement the county pays nothing for it, just me. It is hard enough for 2 people with steady paychecks making ends meet. I couldn’t imagine having to do it alone with the thought of losing my job hanging over my head. I take pride in the work I do for the county but in no way do I think that I am immune to what is coming down the pipe. We all know and have known for awhile that cuts were going to have to be made to save money and people didn’t wanna listen. So good luck all and we will fight the BoS on the issues at hand.
Hey Kat, I kind of agree with you about the supervisors not being allowed to do certain things but it is not our fault that some employees are lucky enough to have managers as buddies who can keep them out of trouble. I know of some employees that keep getting moved from office to office instead of being documented for discipline. There is nothing the union can do about that. The union is there to make sure that the mou is adhered to. They have nothing against employees being disciplined as long as it is done correctly and fairly but you and I know that it doesn’t always work that way. There are alot of employees that know how to play the game and there are managers willing to play along with them. But what does that have to do with the BOS remodeling their offices anyway?
The real issue here is that the BOS is rewarding themselves with perks while the little guy gets shafted.
This is so crazy ,so now the county workers are fat ,so lets get then out,because oc is for small and beutiful people , how stupid people can be? and how come oc vote for the current BOS ,they are ugly and greasy looking just look at the chairman with that beard he looks like he has not have a shower for days, please people be real.
I continuously hear the County of Orange being referred to as a “County Family”. Do you go home at night and treat your families the same way you treat your County Family members? Probably not! Obviously we have a very dysfunctional County Family and like any dysfunctional family the County needs professional intervention and it always starts at the top, the BOS! This isn’t just about the remodeling of the BOS, it’s also about the new computers IT gets every year, the increases executives and managers get every year, the unfairness the nepotism, the politics! There are so many other issues that need to be addressed from the biggest agencies to the very smallest agencies. They are all corrupt! The BOS have not been a positive example! The BOS need to come to an agreement and stop wasting taxpayer’s dollars and get rid of Ngyuen and her million dollar satellite office that caters to a specific community. She is being influenced by her sources . . . how do you think she got into office? Norby has clearly lost it and he also needs to go and yet he wants to trade places with another elected official in building 12? Huge mistake trading one senile man for a bias politician! We do not need any more members of the “good Ol boys” club! Campbell, old school just needs to go! Bates . . . . Useless! Moorlach . . . the County Father, needs to stop hiding and be accountable for his actions! Why do you think he proposed to let taxpayers vote on County retirement? He doesn’t want to be held accountable when things go wrong, this way he can blame the community and say “you voted for it” The CEO, he just needs to go back to LA County and the HR director, needs to go back into retirement! Can’t you see every one of them support one another and until they are all gone things will not change! While Executives and Managers are still receiving increases they are ridiculing the lower class employees. It is disgraceful and humiliating to call yourself part of this County family when you are treated unfairly when you too are also a taxpayer and citizen of Orange County.
Cant help but laugh!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDC0qcf0kzE
Cutting from the bottom will create a negitive economy. I would rather see five employes than one. I am sure that we would benifit more by cutting that over priced employ and keeping the five, or mellowing out the the wages of some and keeping the five. I do not work for a public service but this is the only logical way to resolve this problem.
It amazes me how people can be so ignorant and close minded and continue to perpetuate the very old and outdated stereotype of government wokers being overweight and lazy. I am a “thin” social worker and I work everyday out on the field where many people would not even dare to drive even with their car doors locked an windows rolled up. I invite you ignorant people to go out on the field with me just for one visit and experience what I do. Do you know the suffering that is going on in your own county? Do you know how many people are sick, destitute and whose only ray of hope is the little help we can provide? Wake up Orange County and start pointing the finger in the right direction. It is not the county workers you should be ostracizing, it is the people at the top who have no interest in what happens in their own backyard. After all why worry about social workers when they have a jet and expensive remodels and huge car allowances? I definitely picked the wrong profession!!! I actually care about people, how lame is that? But then again I sleep great at night…fat and all!!!
Where would we be without County Workers ?
We are:
The Social Workers -
- that pick up the pieces after your child is raped/suffered incest/domestic violence.
- The ones who hold your child’s hand the first night they stay at Orangewood Children’s Home because of the child abuse they suffered at your hand.
- The welfare worker that assists your daughter with financial aid because her husband beat her - so she had to leave, in fear for her and her children’s safety. We are the ones that help her find temporary shelter, emergency food and clothing, and assist her in obtaining a restraining order. We are the ones that offer your daughter financial assistance because the deadbeat dad took off with another woman and refuses to pay child support.
- The MediCal intake worker that assists you obtain emergency MediCal benefits for your mother/sister/brother……….
- are the ones that assist your daughter with job search, education, subsidized childcare….
- The ones that protect the frail/elderly from homelessness, to assist them with in-home-supportive services so they may live in their own homes, instead of expensive convalescent hospitals.
- The ones that investigate child / elder abuse.
We are:
- The nurses/doctors/orderlies that care for your loved ones in County hospitals and mental facilities.
- The firemen who protect your homes, who respond to your calls for assistance, who cut you out of a smashed car, and transport you to the hospital, who give cpr to your son after a near-fatal pool accident…………
- The police officers that protect you from others…….. and put their own lives in harms way in doing so ……..
- the probation officers that try to put your child back on the right path …
- the institutional cooks that prepare your daughter’s healthy meals while she’s in juvenile hall……..
- the building inspectors that ensure that the building you work in is up to earthquake standards….
- the animal control officer that responds to your pleas for help with the vicious dog that is terrorizing the safety of your neighborhood……..
Perhaps it is best to “Chop At The Top”, instead of at the level that actually helps you ……….
As the jobs of hundreds of county social workers dangle by a thread, five Sheriff’s deputies and one Supervisor’ srep will head to Canada next month to be Sunshine ambassadors.
They plan to meet with officials of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Sunshine Foundation of Canada (the northern version of America’s Make A Wish Foundation, granting goodies to sick and disabled kids).
The charity and its sponsors would pick up the travel tab for the OC contingent; but the county will pay their salaries for four work days (Jan. 26 through 29) as they spread international good will, costing thousands of dollars.
Should the county send five sheriff’s deputies and a supervisor (or supervisor’s designee) to Canada to be goodwill ambassadors?
Personally, I embrace the idea of the BOS reducing my take-home pay by 20 unpaid hours a month - especially knowing that we have a SunShine Team going to Canada! OMG - Let’s Stop the Insanity !!!!
For those of you criticizing County employees I must say that being a social worker for the County of Orange I have never worked harder in my life. We have more work than we can manage and we deal with very traumatic and serious situations every day. Come by my office any night of the week and you will find several of my colleagues at work far behind their scheduled time so that they can get their work done. Most of us work over our 40 hours and don’t ask for overtime because we know it won’t get approved. You don’t have a fair picture of what many County employees do and yes there are those that are lazy, but most of us are extremely hard working. Oh and by the way we have laptops so you will also find many of us working from home after we’ve put our kids to bed so that we can complete our Court reports or enter our contact notes on time. We you working at midnight the night before Thanksgiving to get your work done…well I was! There are many weeks I work more than 40 hours because we simply have too much to do and there isn’t enough time, but because the safety and well being of Orange County’s children depends on it…we do it! The County could be much more efficient, but it’s not fair to point the finger at the employee. It’s time for management to take responsibility for the way they run the County and for the perks they get…car allowances, not paying into their retirements or paying for benefits. And calling us fat is just ignorant!
Sally Social worker you go!!! I also work weekends and holidays with no extra pay, and don’t grumble becuase it just has to get done…..I’m tired of being pegged a lazy employee when I work harder than others I know who work at private companies! How come nobody complains about the tax dollars that went into bailing out banks which resulted in execs getting bonuses….all anyone can talk about is the lazy employee. Let’s talk about the fat cats getting fatter on tax dollars!
Where is the leadership? Someone that makes over 6 figures a year as all BOS members do should lead by example by renouncing any raises, any extra perks. Unitl one of them steps to the plate and actually does this, everything that comes out of their mouth about needing to save money is nothing but hypocrisy.
Wow talk about Irony, as I am reading this, the County of Orange Social Services Agency is running an advertisement on the top of the web site for adopting children in Orange County. That is going to become much more difficult if they cut staff.
I know this article focuses mostly on the SSA aspect of the layoffs, but I’d like to give a little insight on the Probation Dept. Nearly all of our inmates are felons. A misdemeanor will not get you locked up, we don’t have the space for that. A large portion of our inmates are gang members or gang affiliates. We house murderers, rapists, carjackers, drug dealers, etc. So when they say they are closing nearly 100 beds at Los Pinos, realize that that’s 90 felons that are now resting comfortably at home in our neighborhoods (yes, they DO live in your neighborhoods). The state mandates how many staff are required per how many inmates, so it isn’t like we can just cut staff and keep the same pop. Just like a failing economy puts more demand on SSA, we will see more crime.
Too bad those who condemn the County workers as fat and lazy, overpaid for what we do, etc. Maybe they should do some comparison studies as to pay and benefits versus other Counties and private industry. The last study I did show that OC workers are generally paid less than surrounding areas. In my area, all positions are frozen. We’re down 13 people compared to normal staffing, and things are going to get a lot busier for our department in the next 2 years.
Many of those at the top are overpaid, especially when one looks at their retirement benefits. One gladly took the increased benefit, even though, in his eyes, the old retirement benefit was ‘good enough for the workers’. Yes, start at the top where a good part of the waste is. One salary with benefits probably equals 3 regular workers.
The jails and juvenile halls are full. Instead of releasing these felons into the general population to run rampant, every person arrested for a crime should have to prove their American citizenship. If they are not citizens, they should be fingerprinted, photographed, and DNA taken and this information be put into a federal easily accessible computer file. They should then be immediately deported back to their country. No going to already overcrowded jails, no more using our public defenders, no need for probation or parole. If they are ever arrested in the United States again, then the 3 strike law should apply. Give them 25 to life. Illegal aliens are criminals the minute they set foot across the border. They are not here to contribute to our country, they are here to impose their third world way of life on Americans. Why are they given special treatment that is bankrupting our country and paid for by American taxpayers ? Do this, and suddenly the budget is balanced and Americans can again have the public service that protects their way of life. By the way, look at how other countries, especially Mexico, handle their illegal aliens.
Why should their jobs be any safer and secure than anyone’s elses? No job is a “job for life” ….Sadly I know that as well as anyone……
CHOP FROM THE TOP!!!
For all you people that stereotype government employees, you guys are the ones that are probably on the other side of the counter and are upset because you guys have to wait so long to be seen, all I have to say is “take good reading material, because you guys will only be waiting ALOT longer now”! with the layoffs that will be going through!
Everyone is so quick to complain and say negative things about county workers. I wish you people can get a little tour of some of our offices and see what we do. I rarely take my breaks, and my lunch, and I stay over on my own time. No, its not overtime, I don’t get paid for it, its my time away from my family. Why, because we are so overworked that if I or any of my coworkers didn’t stay, we would be more behind than what we are. My Husband, Sister, and other family members do the same thing and they are all county workers. Now, you people, answer one question: Do you, or would you stay over, not take your lunch and or breaks without getting paid so that your work won’t be behind? If anything the county workers need a raise, we are underpaid.
I’m glad to learn that OCEA has taken a proactive stand and hired Mr. Burton to track down where “the bones are buried” as a compelling alternative to massive layoffs scheduled for next week.
I believe we cannot avoid layoffs completely, but layoffs must be last resort and limited to those only whose unsatisfactory work ethics (regardless their seniority) bring shame to all public employees.
Layoffs should also start at the top. Besides greater $$$ savings due to higher-ups’ salaries it would bring a sobering sensation among those who have lost touch with average joe either working for them directly or working in Orange County in general.
We cannot afford to be the welfare and prison system for another country. We are broke.
Good call Bandit..Sometimes you can judge a book by it’s cover, espicially if you have seen the movie…Being a member of the government work force, I can see the sluff, but there are many more truely dedicated worker bee’s that our towns, county’s and state need to operate in a civil and rewarding fashion. Keeping the streets safe, clean and making our schools a learning place for our children and not a daycare. PEOPLE wake up, smell the coffee, times are tough and it’s not going to get any better for some time unless we make sacrifices. Of course we all want more, but we need to be satisfied with what we have, our families, friends and our conviction to our faith in your God. Stop expecting more out of life than what you can put into it. Life is short, enjoy yourselves now show someone you care. It’s easy and the reward will be the joy in your heart . HAPPY NEW YEAR…
It is easy to critisize, condemn, or complain and much harder to come up with a solution. Everyone should share the burden. The BOS and managers intentions to quitely maintain and recieve perks, regardless of the overall cost(major or minor), while people are to be layed off is shameful. From what I have read, OCEA has offered solutions from the beginning and the board and CEO have skoffed and snubbed their nose a everything the union proposes. Hiring Gary Burton is another great idea by OCEA. The tax payers of this county can only hope that their elected officials will have some common sense and work with the former CFO of the county to come up with solutions that will solve the dire budget problems we face.
Why are so many people responding to a couple of idiots?
I say we just all march down to BOS’s offices and pimp slap them and and take away all their ishh and see how they like it.! let’s spit in their face! and smash down to the ground & hit them while there down!!!! Because that’s what their doing to us!!!!!!
WE ALL have to put these Mo-Fo’s in check!! quick style!!
I also agree to get rid of all the knuckleheads that work for the county!!!
there is a lot of them…i just don’t know who the heck hired them!!!
Look at the picture and slide show that goes with this article. Seriously, I don’t see one county worker wearing a red tee-shirt with a normal body mass! Don’t they have intervention programs for overweight government workers? Why not? It would make you healthier and happier employees. And you would be able to enjoy those lofty pensions for many extra years instead of risking early death from diseases caused by obesity! Not trying to be crass. I’m trying to be helpful. We care!
I’d like to begin by saying how taken back I am with the animosity of some individuals who feel the need to attack those of us who serve the public with your senseless and small minded insults. Since when was it a prerequisite to be a former Mr Universe, Miss World Fitness or have 2% body fat to be a productive and valuable government worker? It is about serving our fellow man, about trying to make a difference. I’ve worked more than 15 yrs as a case worker and in that time I know I have made a positive difference in the lives of many of the families that I serve. Some of them genuinely needed the assistance and others through manipulation of the system reaped the benefits. Maybe it is an outdated concept but I grew up believing that one of the things that set us apart not only as a country but as a people was our ability to come together during the worst of times. How far we’ve fallen! We’re all in this together yet there is such an obvious and distinct separation of the county family at this time. Maybe there always has been and I’m just waking up to that fact. On the walls of many county locations you find beautiful mission statements informing county employees that the people we serve have the right to be treated at all times with dignity and respect and yet more often than not county workers are not afforded these same rights not only by those we serve but by those who we answer to. Some of you are so quick to judge and criticize when you don’t have the luxury of knowing what we county workers know. Caseloads are over target, monthly deadlines must be meet, annual reassessments of eligibility must be made on a monthly basis, quarterly reports must be processed in a timely manner and clients daily needs must be addressed. We are expected to always perform at the highest level yet more and more we are told it must be with less and less resources. For those of you haters I only hope you never find yourselves having to stand in line at one of our many county locations applying for public assistance but rest assured that if you do I will always provide you with respect and dignity regardless of how you treat me.
Why is the OC Register reporting on Nick Berardino’s salary? He is NOT an employee of the County, receives no benefits from the County and earns a fair wage. The BOS should consider the ethics of earning their keep and wages. The good ol boys club is alive and well at the BOS. Let them eat cake is their motto. This BOS has the guts to call the employees family, yet rapes those same employees by giving themselves raises and laying off the line staff. The BOS should be ashamed of themselves….they probably would be if they had a sense of fairness!