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Supervisors promise work on library despite tough times

During the State of the County address February 13 at San Diego’s Balboa Theater, San Diego County Board of Supervisors chairman Greg Cox acknowledged that the county would be facing fiscal uncertainties in 2008, but Cox also promised work on the Fallbrook library during the year.

“During 2008 we will begin or complete work on libraries in Alpine, Encinitas, Fallbrook, and Ramona,” Cox said.

Cox also mentioned plans for the new Lincoln Acres library, noting that he was working with community residents on what will be a library, park, and community complex.

A July 2007 Board of Supervisors action allocated $50,000 for a conceptual plan and directed the county’s Chief Administrative Officer to evaluate the renovation and expansion plan of the Lincoln Acres library complex for inclusion in the county’s Capital Improvement Needs Assessment Program.

“As society moves at light speed into the digital information age, these libraries will give our children the tools and resources they need to compete in this fast-changing world. But more than that, libraries have also evolved into vital hubs of the communities they serve, providing everything from adult literacy programs to concerts and poetry readings that feed the mind and nourish the soul,” Cox said.

Cox addressed a potential financial crisis prior to outlining the county’s plans for 2008.

“The good work we have done in the County of San Diego is at risk,” he said. “Continuing economic problems means fewer tax revenues at a time of greater demand for services. It is not a problem we can fix at the local level, but one we must acknowledge and be prepared to address.”

In addition to the decline in housing equity, increases in the cost of fuel and consumer goods, rising unemployment, and turmoil in financial markets, Cox also cited the State of California’s fiscal situation as a cause for the financial crisis.

“The State of California is in a crisis mode that will challenge local government’s ability to serve its residents,” he said.

The state’s budget shortfall may exceed $15 billion.

“This should matter to everyone in this region, because the state’s red ink will trickle down quickly to all California counties and cities. To paraphrase a popular slogan, what happens in Sacramento doesn’t stay in Sacramento. Many county programs are mandated and funded by the state. This means any cuts in state spending will have serious repercussions here in San Diego,” Cox said. “We will face some difficult decisions at the county, including potential cuts in programs and services to correspond with state funding cuts. But we will make the hard decisions wisely and timely. Unlike the state, we will not put off tough choices or set off a downward spiral by using one-time money for ongoing expenses. This is what separates our county government from other, dysfunctional governments.”

Cox announced plans to work with the mayors of the county’s 18 incorporated cities to protect San Diego from bearing more than its share of budget cuts.

“We will go to Sacramento in force. We will stand strong and speak as one region, with one voice,” he said. “That is my goal this year, and that is the offer I extend to all of my fellow elected officials in this region.”

Cox was the mayor of Chula Vista before being appointed to a Board of Supervisors vacancy 13 years ago, and he has served as president of both the League of California Cities and the California State Association of Counties.

“I intend to personally work through both organizations to see that mistakes made by state government don’t undermine the effectiveness of local government,” he said.

Cox proclaimed that the state of San Diego County remained strong.

“We are strong because we do things differently here at the County of San Diego. We impose on ourselves a fiscal discipline that you won’t find in many governments. We demand that outcome and results, not process and paperwork, be our primary focus,” he said. “We constantly anticipate and prepare for the needs of our region. We identify and manage risk. We don’t hide from it, and we don’t run from it.”

Cox noted that the county’s standards were literally tried by fire during 2007. He cited past actions such as radio communication upgrades, emergency notification, and the “2-1-1” system for non-emergency information requests which answered more than 110,000 calls in a six-day period during the October fires.

Cox announced plans to work with the 18 cities to incorporate the 2-1-1 system into their annual budgets.

“Firestorm 2007 showed all of us that 2-1-1 is a critical resource to the people of this region,” he said. “2-1-1 can and will meet the needs of all of our cities and communities in this region, and it deserves much greater support from all of us.”

In January the county supervisors approved actions to analyze the proposed regional fire department and to create a Regional Fire Protection Committee, which also involves incorporated cities, to advise the supervisors on equipment acquisition and funding options.

“The Board of Supervisors will have decisions to make, and we will make them this year, but only after carefully identifying the funding, weighing all points of view, and considering all the consequences,” he said.

Other 2008 plans include a redesign of the county’s Web site. One of the features will be a new search engine to increase the ease of finding information on services, and the Web site plans also include a multilingual customized service and an e-mail subscription program on specific subjects such as beach contamination warnings or new arrivals at county animal shelters.

“Our goal is to serve you online instead of forcing you to stand in line,” Cox said.

Cox also noted the county would launch its eQuest information technology system to allow hospitals, doctors, and other medical providers to make and track referrals electronically.

The county’s Department of Public Health and its Office of Emergency Services are partners with Scripps on the state’s new mobile field hospital program.

A mobile field hospital has 200 beds, emergency triage and operating rooms, intensive care units, radiology, a pharmacy, and a laboratory. They can be deployed and made operational within 72 hours in the event of an earthquake which renders existing hospitals unavailable, a mass casualty event, or a natural disaster.

“Mobile hospitals are the future of disaster response,” Cox said. “This year I will be pushing the state to test and demonstrate the next mobile field hospital exercise right here in San Diego, where we are at the forefront of disaster response.”

Cox also announced plans to establish a Law Enforcement Coordination Center for emergencies, including any terrorist attacks, so that law enforcement and intelligence agencies could work at the same facility to share critical information which could avoid a disaster.

He noted that the county’s geographical information systems (GIS) assisted firefighters and first responders during the October 2007 fires and enabled the Office of Emergency Services to coordinate evacuations, and he indicated that in 2008 the county would expand its GIS to map power, water, and natural gas systems.

“This will give us better ability to protect our region’s key resources during an emergency,” he said.

Cox announced plans to seek more funding for additional park land and open space.

He cited Proposition 84, which was approved by voters in November 2006 and provided $5.4 billion for safe drinking water and improvements to state and local parks, as a source of potential funding.

“I will fight to get San Diego’s fair share of those funds from Prop. 84,” he said.

“With the help of all San Diegans, we kept this region working when disaster struck. And standing together, we can keep this region working every day for everyone, no matter what we face in the future,” Cox said. “We will face great challenges this year, challenges that will affect each and every one of us. But we will face them together, and together, we will keep this county working. Remember, we don’t have to change the whole world, just our part of it.”

 

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