Public Employees Taking Measure R Vote Personally

The way Judith Edmundson sees it, when she votes for Measure R on Tuesday, she’ll be voting to keep her job with the Orange County Social Services Agency.

Edmundson and her husband--who is also a county employee--already work two jobs each to take care of their three teen-agers and make the monthly mortgage payments on their Garden Grove home. Adding to the stress of their frantic schedule are worries that they both could be in the unemployment line in the very near future.

“I’m not happy about a tax at all. I can’t afford it,” said Edmundson, a welfare-eligibility technician who, like her husband, has only a few years seniority. “But I figure I can afford it less if my husband and I lose our jobs.”

Edmundson’s supervisor, however, sees the tax differently.

Grace Mello hopes her vote against Measure R will carry a potent message. She’s angry that those elected to provide leadership have failed, and are now turning to taxpayers to get out of a jam. She doesn’t trust county leaders’ promise to spend the money on bankruptcy recovery.

Mello, and her husband, Bill, are members of the Committees of Correspondence, a vocal group trying to defeat the tax, which proponents say would cost every Orange County resident about $50 each per year.

“I say $50 is $50 too much,” said Grace Mello, who with 15 years seniority fears only that more layoffs would mean a greater workload for her and fewer services for her clients. “I just don’t want to pay any more taxes. I just think the money that the tax would bring in would just go to business as usual.”

Most of the public debate about Measure R has raged between the high-profile backers and opponents of the tax, such as County Chief Executive Officer William J. Popejoy and Supervisor Roger R. Stanton. But more telling is the debate among Edmundson, Mello and the thousands of other Orange County employees and city and school workers who will be among the first to feel the impact if Measure R fails.

Since declaring bankruptcy Dec. 6 after losing $1.7 billion because of a botched investment strategy, county officials have laid off nearly 850 employees, eliminated 2,000 county jobs and slashed 41% from their general fund budget.

Passage of the tax is crucial to fully reimbursing the cities, schools and special agencies that invested in former Treasurer-Tax Collector Robert L. Citron’s collapsed investment pool and staving off layoffs and cutbacks, tax supporters say.

But even if Measure R passes, Popejoy promises a new round of county budget cuts--possibly as much as $75 million--and potentially more layoffs.

For weeks now, county employees and their counterparts in cities and school districts have debated Measure R on lunch lines, during coffee breaks and while grabbing a smoke. And even when they return to work, the tax proposal looms large, sometimes making it difficult to concentrate.

“It’s very discouraging for teachers, to be worrying about how tenuous their jobs are,” said Steve Garretson, president of the 1,050-member Irvine Teachers Assn., and a fifth-grade schoolteacher. “Even when you try not to think of it, you end up worrying about it.”

Orange County schools--and their employees--may have the most to lose. The Irvine Unified School District, for example, has notified nearly 120 teachers that they could be laid off before the next school year.

But those outside government see the prospect of layoffs and budget cuts as a positive move that will help county government downsize and streamline. Every extra bean counter means extra tax money coming out of taxpayers’ pockets, they argue.

“You hate to see people lose their jobs. No one likes that,” said Bruce Whitaker, spokesman for the Committees of Correspondence. “But we are concerned with the discrepancies in pay and benefits of county workers compared to workers in the private sector. The proof of that is the absolute terror you see in the face of any county employee who is faced with finding a job in the private sector.”

Whitaker said he believes the county is bloated with employees who are under-worked and overpaid. He also questions whether the county has laid off as many people as it claims.

“Orange County should find another way out of it,” adds Karen Bowen, accounts clerk for the city of Tustin, which has written off its loss of a few thousand dollars and is not expected to turn to layoffs. “We shouldn’t be taxed for their mistakes.”

But some public employees who don’t fear layoffs or pay cuts said they’ll vote for Measure R anyway, to ensure an adequate level of funding at local schools.

The Newport-Mesa Unified School District, for example, is still owed $8.2 million. Three school psychologists have already been laid off, but teachers’ aides and other assistants could be the next target as the district tries to make up its shortfall.

“I’m going to vote Yes,” said Shirley Shun, a kindergarten teacher at College Park Elementary School in Costa Mesa. “I think it will help keep our schools open, provide instruction materials, field trips, music lessons, things we need to offer our children.

“We also need our aides, desperately,” Shun said. “Children are being packed into overcrowded classrooms. And I think it will be worse if Measure R fails.”

But many public employees, such as Edmundson, see the tax as the lesser of two evils facing hard-working people who live paycheck to paycheck.

Edmundson says she finds herself agreeing with many of the anti-Measure R arguments, and she worries that even if the tax is approved, she still could lose her job in the next round of budget cuts. Over the last few months, the Edmundsons have cut out all extra expenses to prepare for the worst.

“I have nightmares that it will pass but they will still find a way to lay me off,” she said quietly. “I guess my vote is like a gamble for my job.”