Orange County Workers, Leaders Brainstorm Solutions at Conference of Cities

At the Orange County Conference of Cities on Saturday, February 27, city employees from throughout the region came together to focus on maintaining high quality public services in the face of economic crisis. 
Members of SEIU 721, the Orange County Employees Association and the Orange County Labor Federation joined elected leaders and experts to brainstorm ideas and discuss the impact of privatization on public services, particularly at a time when the region’s economic base is eroding.  “Navigating Tough Times Together”
Public service workers, elected officials and experts discussed secure retirement, state versus local funding issues, ways to increase efficiencies and the negative impact of privatization on the quality of public services.
“This forum gave us insight into what’s going on in our state and our local governments. It also showed us the actions we have to take to be responsible in our labor movement to ensure our livelihoods and public services are protected. I feel like we have a template to move forward.”
–Angelo Giron, Senior Office Assistant, Development Engineering, City of Santa Ana

“The revenue lost as a result of the economic downturn would not be made up even if every public employee were laid off and every public program were eliminated. The only thing that will restore the revenue is economic recovery.”
–Lee Cokorinos, President, Democracy Strategies


“Forget the politics. What’s really true is outsourcing
public services doesn’t save a lot of money.”
–Donald Cohen, President, Center on Policy Initiatives

“The crisis affords us the opportunity to redesign services our members provide and make them more efficient.”
–John Tanner, Executive Director, SEIU 721.
Ensuring Quality Public Services at a Time of Economic Crisis
Breakout sessions at the conference focused on secure retirement, the relationships between state and local governments, and cost savings through efficiencies. Worker proposals included: 
•Increasing oversight of outside contracts by better educating public employees about the contracts they’re monitoring
•Creating new avenues for communication between state and local officials so state officials are better aware of the effects their decisions have on local budgets
•Educating public employees and the broader community about the health of the public retirement program. For example, most people don’t know that 75 percent of public retirement benefits are funded by the returns on workers’ investments.
•Educating public employees and the broader community about the negative effects of the two-thirds majority needed for the state legislature to pass a budget.
•Creating new avenues for city workers to share information about how they’ve made public services more efficient.
To get involved, contact the SEIU Local 721 Orange County Regional Office at (714) 262-5182.