Orange County Register

In the midst of massive layoffs at the county – 800 social service workers are getting the ax – and a projected deficit next year of $86 million, county supervisors are spending nearly a half million dollars on…

Remodeling their lobby.

“When I hear things like this, my blood pressure soars like a rocket to the moon,” said Orange County labor leader Nick Berardino.

Berardino – who heads the Orange County Employees Association – has been railing against wasteful spending by supervisors for months. With the rallying cry of “chop at the top,” Berardino has been criticizing officials’ publicly-funded pensions, 401K plans, gas and car allowances and office remodels.

“People’s lives are being ruined, and they’re remodeling,” Berardino said.“It makes me want to faint. Don’t these guys have any shame?”

County supervisor’s offices on the fifth floor of the county administration building in Santa Ana have long been walled off from the public by an elaborate barrier of wooden and glass walls.

During the 1994 bankruptcy, a series of protective barriers went up to deal with angry members of the public. And after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, supervisors fortified their
offices from the public even further.

Apparently, in January 2007, the Santa Ana Fire Department cited the county telling them that the walls created a fire hazard.

Instead of just taking them down, county officials came up with an idea to create a new barrier.

In September, they approved $455,00 for the project. And on November 18, they approved a $326,840 contract to build themselves a new barrier.

Asking for a rationale for the new barrier, county officials have wrapped themselves in a sort of security blanket.

“Although in the works for a considerable period of time, the security egress project was recently started in order to provide better emergency exit access, security and space utilization of the fifth floor lobby,” said County Spokeswoman Pat Markley. “The county was given notice to correct our public emergency access to two stairwells in January 2007 by the city of Santa Ana Fire Department.”

However, once contacted, two county supervisors are already starting to ask questions.

“I favored tearing the barrier down and having them stay down,” said Supervisor Chris Norby.
“The message that would send is that we are an open government,” Norby said, adding that any member of the public should be able to simply walk into a supervisors office.

He notes that there is a full Sheriff’s station in the lobby of the Hall of Administration already.

“We should leave it,” he said referring to the open character of the lobby in the midst of the remodel.

Supervisor Pat Bates said she’s now wondering whether the project should be scaled back.

“I think we have to look at all these things,” she said.

So far, county officials said they have paid out $15, 128 for design services. No payments yet have been made on the $328, 840 approved for the project.

The lobby remodel isn’t the only fancy upgrading done to the county supervisors’ floor recently.

I’m told that this year, the supervisors break room was redone with granite countertops and a stainless steel refrigerator.

Two conference rooms were fully redone with tables, chairs and even new blinds.

No indication yet of how much that cost. County staff is still researching.

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