California County News

Healthy Families Changes Co-Pays, Delays Disenrollments Until October

The California Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board (MRMIB), which oversees the state’s Healthy Families Program, met last week and approved increases in co-payments for select services while moving back the October disenrollment date for all participants.  CSAC has a good rundown of the increased co-pays and the program status itself here.

Assembly Gets Set for Prison Vote, County Jails Ponder Inmate Influx

Most folks have realized, by now, that the upshot of the apparently imminent inmate release from state prisons is a significant uptick in workload for counties.  While the Assembly has toned down the large scale release approved by the State Senate last week, the package set for a vote Monday would still release about 16,000 inmates and alter sentencing guidelines to the point that already packed county facilities bear much of the brunt of the effort to save the state between 300 and 500 million each year. 

The Santa Rosa Press Democrat has a good look at how Sonoma County would be impacted here.  “Increased victimization and a potential increase in the jail population is the big concern that law enforcement officials have,” Sonoma County District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua said in that article, “In this day of limited resources, how do we deal with that?”

How, indeed.  Meanwhile, the Governor is calling out legislators, saying they "lack the guts" necessary to implement real reform.  Read more there from the AP.

The story is also garnering national attention.  As the New York Times Editorial Board put it last week: California is Failing the Prison Test.  From that article:

"The California Legislature has failed several times to change backward sentencing and parole policies that keep the state’s prisons dangerously overcrowded with too many minor offenders sent to jail for too long. These failures, which have driven up corrections costs by about 50 percent in less than a decade, came home to roost earlier this month, when a federal court ordered the state to cut the prison population significantly. Days later, an ominous riot broke out in the men’s prison in Chino."

About sums it up.  Read more of that piece here.

FEMA "Overpays" County for Hurricane Cleanup, Wants Millions Back

A friend of ours used to work for FEMA.  A big cause for burnout in that agency is the realization, by the workers and the victims they assist, is that their powers are very limited and expectations are rarely fulfilled for Americans in their most vulnerable state. 

Imagine how one county feels when FEMA asks them to repay $6 million bucks for hurricane cleanup from 4 and 5 years ago.  That's exactly what's happening to Baldwin County, Alabama, and they're ready to head to court. 

Read on...

Stanislaus County Residents Challenge Property Tax Assessments

Stanislaus County residents are putting their home values up against their property tax assessments and saying: nuh-uh. 

Bottomed out home values are prompting "thousands" of county residents to challenge their assessments, according to a report by the Modesto Bee.  This has overwhelmed county staff and a three member Appeals board.  The Board of Supes is looking at assigning a hearing officer to handle many of the more minor disputes, read more in the Modesto Bee. 

Shasta Co Asks: Can We Double Our Population and Stay Rural?

It's a fair question...

A group called "Shasta Forward" is at work in the county of the same name, taking a hard look at growth projections that anticipate a county population swelling from 180,000 residents today to over 330,000 residents by the year 2050.  The group has developed a number of growth scenarios with the intent of mapping out this future growth and assessing its impacts.  They have it all laid out in a fancy website.

Because the scenarios laid out by Shasta Forward make continued rural growth look like "a loser," to use the Record-Searchlight's words, there's been a pronounced backlash, which the Record-Searchlight thinks is a shame.

"Shasta Forward might not be perfect, but it's certainly a valuable exercise in looking far down the road and deciding if we like where we're headed. And it's certainly worth giving its surveys, now circulating around the county, a few minutes' time and a vote."

Read more from the Record Searchlight here.

OC Supes Renew Legal Challenge to Deputies' Pension Package

The OC Supes are resolved to continue in their lawsuit against OC Sheriff's Deputies, over an attempt to roll back retroactive pension benefits the board contends were granted unconstitutionally.  They voted 4 to 1 Tuesday to appeal a superior court decision against their suit, with Janet Ngyuen the lone descent. 

The county has put nearly $2 million into the legal fight on this issue, prompting Supe John Moorlach to declare "Why quit now when you're on the five yard line?" The case, of course has broad implications for local governments around the state.  Stay tuned and read more from the OC Register.

Prison Reform Plan Overhauled in Assembly

The State Assembly is taking a big knife to the prison reform plan passed by the Senate last week.  The controversial "sentencing commission" is being dropped by the lower house, though Senate leader Steinberg has called the panel a top priority.  The Assembly is now set to vote on a revised package sometime this week. 

What does this mean for counties?  Well, part of it depends on how the rapidly shrinking bill turns out.  As CSAC Exec Paul McIntosh put it, "These costs have to go somewhere.  And whether direct or indirect, many of the financial pressures will come to counties.  In addition to public safety considerations, there will surely be additional pressures to an already strained social service system (mental health, substance abuse, indigent health, and general assistance, as a few examples)."

There are also some complicated politics at play in this effort, with a large number of legislators running for higher office -- be it the free-for-all open congressional seat in the East Bay or the upcoming vacancies in statewide positions.

The Capitol Weekly has a good overview of the whole thing here.

Wild Pigs on the Loose in Fresno County

Wild pigs caused over $65,000 in damage to Fresno County farms last year, according to the County Department of Agriculture.  Farmers are getting fed up, and lament the tenacity, appetite and intelligence of the beasts.  "A big 300-pound pig will rub up against an almond tree and put a 30-degree lean on that tree," said Fred Rinder, Fresno County Department of Agriculture's wildlife and weed management supervisor.  What a gig!

Read more in the Fresno Bee.

Asian Citrus Lice Found in OC, Could Carry Devastating Agricultural Disease

Psyllids or "jumping plant lice" have been found in Orange County -- and it's no laughing matter.  Like the "Light Brown Apple Moth," the Psyllids are tiny creatures with a goofy name, but they spell potential catastrophe for agriculture in California. 

The insects carry a disease that, according to the LA Times, "has wiped out much of the citrus industries in China, India, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Brazil."  Got your attention?

"Wherever the psyllid goes, the disease has followed. . . . Our only hope is to find the disease early and try to deal with it," said Ted Batkin, president of the Citrus Research Board in Visalia, adding ""Having it as far north as Santa Ana means that the pest could be anywhere in the entire Los Angeles basin. This is not good."

Ehh.  Not good indeed.  The State Department of Food and Agriculture is reading a quarantine.

Read more from the LA Times, the Merc and the Press Enterprise.

Ventura Co Has Funds for a Mental Health Center, But Can't Find a Home

Ventura County Mental Health officials are in an interesting spot: they've got cash available for a residential mental health facility, but can't find a place to put it.  From the Ventura County Star:

County managers shelved the project when Telecare Corp., the Alameda company they wanted to run the program a few years ago, could not find a site. Their own efforts have not succeeded either: a building in Oxnard was too small, a deal for a closed nursing home in Santa Paula fell through for undisclosed reasons.

Members of the county Mental Health Board, fearing an outcry if they tried to put the center in a residential neighborhood, had pushed to use a county-owned building near Ventura County Medical Center.

But in 2007 officials said the building was inappropriate because it contained asbestos and lacked air conditioning and access for people with disabilities.

Read more from the Star here.