CSAC News Comments turned off

Annual Meeting: Willie Waxes Poetic

By on November 29th, 2011

The 117th CSAC Annual Meeting kicked off in grand style this afternoon with an engaging, insightful and humorous address by former Assembly Speaker and San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown.

Using the style he is known for, Willie waxed poetic on his political life in Sacramento and San Francisco. He also touched on a variety of issues, including the damage done by term limits, (“…they bounced out a lot of talented people, dedicated people…”); how he much he enjoyed the old “line drawin’, (“…it starts with the Speaker, you work to get 40 friends and 3-4 for doublecross…”); how our state leaders must lead on the issue of the pension crisis, (“… We need to have people in Sacramento elevate the level of dialogue.”); and how he supports the new primary system… (“… It may offer dramatic changes on who represents us in the halls of the Legislature.”)

—–

Madera County Supervisor Ronn Dominici helped introduce Willie Brown with a story of how, as a patrolman, he chauffeured the then Assemblyman around the San JoaquinValley in the early 1970s. From Willie he learned a lesson he uses to this day on he value of attention and detail when it comes to working with constituents.

—–

In a touching moment, the CSAC membership gave Peter Detwiler – the recipient of the 2011 CSAC Distinguished Service Award – a standing ovation, honoring him for his decades of public service. Peter retired after the legislative session this year. For nearly 30 years, Peter worked for the Senate Local Government Committee – now called the Senate Governance and Finance Committee.

He has long been know and respected as the legislative expert on many local government of the issues. His experience, intelligence and attention to detail gave him a store of historical minutiae second to none, and his integrity gained him a reputation beyond reproach. He will be missed

County Budgets, Justice/Public Safety Comments turned off

Tale of Two States

By on November 23rd, 2011

California counties remain concerned about the nature and funding of the 2011 Realignment, particularly the public safety portion.  While the Community Corrections Partnerships around the state have been developing plans to implement AB 109, a lot of details remain to be worked out and counties are concerned that the funding devoted to realignment may not be sufficient.  In addition, although $6 billion is continually appropriated to realignment, a constitutional guarantee of the funding and protection of the programs is critical to the long term success of realignment.

Now, let’s juxtapose that with what is happening right next door in Arizona.  On the last night of the Legislative Session, buried in an appropriation bill, the state shifted responsibility for housing felons sentenced to one year or less to counties.  No funding was provided to counties, although the state scored a $60 million savings against the transfer.  Currently in Arizona, if you are convicted of a felony, you go to state prison.  County jails house misdemeanants and provide little to no programs.  Here is what one newspaper said about the impacts in the state’s second largest county, Pima County (Tucson):

The state’s transfer of hundreds of convicted felons to the county jail could cost Pima County taxpayers an extra $6 million, over and above what it would cost to simply leave them in prison.

The Legislature, in order to cut its own budget, passed a law last session requiring criminals sentenced to less than a year to serve their time in their respective county jails. For the estimated 500 Pima County inmates a year who would be affected, the state would save about $3 million.

But because of differences in how prisons and jails operate and the different inmate populations they serve, it is projected to cost Pima County $5 million to $7 million to keep those same prisoners.

On top of that, state law prohibits county jails from giving inmates time off for good behavior as prisons can, which means everyone spends more time behind bars at additional county taxpayer expense.

The state has offered to keep the prisoners if the counties will pay for them, but it has offered no guarantee the price won’t go up. County sheriffs have until June 30, 2012, to make a decision which way they are going to go. 

Not only will those in Arizona who are convicted and serving one year or less do their time in county jail, but those felons currently in state prison with one year or less to serve on their sentences will be bused to county jails on July 1, 2012.  Arizona counties rightfully are concerned about the costs of incarceration but they are also concerned that they are being set up for a phalanx of law suits over jail conditions and lack of health facilities and program opportunities for inmates – facilities they do not currently have.

Last week I was invited to speak at the Arizona Association of Counties annual meeting.  Obviously, county supervisors and staff in Arizona are extremely concerned about this development.  As troubled as we are in California about realignment, I could not help but feel a little good that we are not in the shoes of Arizona counties.

CSAC News Comments turned off

Annual Meeting: The Value of Coming Together

By on November 22nd, 2011

In one week from today, we will be kicking off our 117th Annual Meeting. Think about that figure; for 117 years, county officials have been coming together to talk about common issues, to work as one and plan for the future. Even back in the 1890s, our county leaders understood the influence they held when working together and speaking with one voice. While they may have arrived in town on horseback and buggy rather than Southwest and BART, one thing hasn’t changed: the value of coming together. 

We have worked hard to develop a meeting agenda you will find useful. Our theme, “A Bridge to Reform” is fitting, as we will tackle a number of key reform issues, including realignment, health care and pensions. You will learn the latest news on these controversial and complex issues, and will have an opportunity to weigh in. We will also discuss the proposed initiative filed by the coalition of public service associations to which CSAC belongs. As an Association, we will begin to map out a direction for 2012 – and beyond. 

Our major speakers run the gamut, from the legendary former Assembly Speaker Willie Brown to international motivational speaker David Rabiner; from Michael Hingson, who survived 9/11, to Robert Joss, the former dean of the Stanford University School of Business. We will also be joined at the Thursday night banquet by Governor Brown, who will do the honors of swearing in our 2012 officers. 

Our turnout of county officials will strong. As of today, representatives from 57 counties are registered.  If you haven’t yet registered for the conference, that’s okay; there are always a number of individuals who registered on-site. Registration begins next Tuesday morning at the conference location: the Hilton San Francisco Union Square. To take an advanced look at the program, click here. 

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and we look forward to seeing you next week in San Francisco as we begin taking our steps out onto the “bridge of reform.”

Health and Human Services Comments turned off

Protecting Children Gets Lost in the Shuffle

By on November 10th, 2011

There has been a lot of media attention this week focused on  Penn State – its administration and its football program. Who knew what, and who told whom, and when. Of course, lots of whys.

Perhaps instead of football coaches, the story that deserves to be discussed – in fact, must be discussed – is the prevalence of sexual abuse of children in the United States. Researchers estimate 15-25 percent of girls and 5-15 percent  of boys are sexually abused in this country . Let me rephrase: as many as 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys. Those figures are astounding. Think about your friends, neighbors, colleagues, and family members. How can you not know someone who has been affected by this crime?

On Saturday, football stadiums across the country will fill with college football fans. A fitting way to start those games would be with a moment of silence for the millions of children across the country who are victimized by sexual abuse. Imagine if all the money and fan energy that will pour into those stadiums on just one day were directed toward eradicating sexual exploitation of children in the U.S. Now that would really be something to cheer about.

Eventually the headlines and interest in Penn State will fade, and the media will move on to something else. But counties shouldn’t let interest in protecting childhood victims of abuse fade. As the entities that investigate, prosecute, and provide services to abused and neglected children, counties have to continue to advocate and make these children a priority – locally, statewide and nationally. The sexual exploitation of these children results in lasting emotional, mental and physical scars for both them and our communities. Let’s not let the real story – child abuse – get lost in the crowd.

Health and Human Services Comments turned off

Recalculating Poverty

By on November 8th, 2011

This week the federal government released a new “Supplemental Poverty Measure.” It doesn’t replace the current calculation, but it “provides us a different angle on who is in economic need,” according to Rebecca Blank, U.S. Commerce Department undersecretary for economic affairs.

The official poverty measure – developed nearly 50 years ago – took one analyst’s guess at a family’s cost for food and multiplied it by three. Simple, right? Maybe…too simple? Even if it was true in 1964, today’s American families spend less of their income on food and more on necessary services.

The new number includes the cost of child care, clothing, utilities, housing, health care, and transportation.

The official measurement of a family’s income only counts income and cash benefits (like social security). The new number includes other safety net services – food stamps, school lunches, tax credits, housing, and home energy subsidies.

Finally, the new measurement takes some regional cost-of-living differences into account, whereas the official measure does not.

What does the revamped poverty measure tell us?

More Americans – 46.6 million – are living in poverty.

Specifically, the new measure counts 16 percent of the country as impoverished compared to 15.2 percent under the official measure. But these 46.6 million aren’t the same families as before plus a few more – many of them are different people.

More elderly Americans are living in poverty. The inclusion of medical expenses helps grow the percentage of impoverished seniors from 9 percent to 15.9 percent.

However, fewer children are living in poverty – because of the inclusion of household resources, particularly subsidies from government programs and tax credits. Childhood poverty drops to 18.2 percent from 22.5 percent. Although – regardless of which measure you use – childhood poverty is still on the rise. Childhood poverty dips in the supplemental measure in large part because families are receiving safety net services intended to keep them out of poverty.

Among ethnic groups, the recalculation decreases poverty measurements in African-American households, but reveals higher rates of poverty among white, Asian, and Latino households.

The poverty rates also reveal geographic differences – both between urban and rural and regions of the U.S. Poverty rates are higher for households in metropolitan areas and in the Northeast and West – which have higher housing costs. Poverty rates in rural areas and the Midwest and South decline.

The number of people living in poverty has vast implications for distributing funding for a number of federally funded programs and could reshuffle funding allocations amongst states. However, the new supplemental measure will be used solely for research, at least for now. Many have been critical of the antiquated formula used to calculate the official measure. Only time will tell if the supplemental measure will spur further conversation about poverty and how to better track poverty rates and provide services in this country.