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Jeffries Journal

Kevin’s Corner                               March 2024 - Volume 12, Issue 3

 

Kevin's Corner

Job Opening: County Supervisor. As I mentioned last month, I am retiring from the Board of Supervisors at the end of this year, so the voters of the 1st District are now being asked to begin the hiring process to replace me. This new hire will be required to oversee the government operations of a County with  almost 2.5 million people, spread across 7300 square miles of territory, from   Corona to the Arizona State Line, making it the 4th largest County by population in the State, and the 10th largest in the nation—larger than 15 other entire states. We employ about 22,000 workers in 35 departments and agencies that range from janitors to counselors to engineers to accountants to deputies to attorneys to heavy equipment operators to literal brain surgeons, and many more additional trades and professions.

Paying all those employees (as well as passing through much of the property tax money to schools) requires a very large budget--$8.6 billion this fiscal year.  Most of how that money is spent is dictated by state and federal mandates, but we are held responsible to get it done.  The good news is, that unlike the State of California, which is now facing a $73 billion deficit, we are still experiencing strong revenues (our general fund budget comes mostly from property taxes and sales taxes, rather than the more volatile income taxes the state relies upon). The challenging news is labor and health care costs are increasing quickly, and are only going to rise higher, and the other bad news is historically, when the State has had a budget deficit, it tends to take it out on counties, by cutting funding to programs the County administers and pushing more responsibilities down to local government - as they have done previously by  shifting dangerous inmates from state prisons to local jails and by closing state juvenile facilities and expecting counties to find new programs to replace them.

For the cities in the new 1st District (all of Riverside, all of Perris, and about half of Jurupa Valley), this position is responsible for health and human services programs (including behavioral health, child protective services, food stamps/SNAP), funding criminal prosecutions through the elected District Attorney, funding jails operated by the elected Sheriff, and overseeing elections  county-wide. For unincorporated communities of the 1st District (Highgrove, University City, Mead Valley, Good Hope, Meadowbrook and areas surrounding March Air Reserve Base), we are also responsible for roads, planning &  development, fire, deputies, code enforcement, animal services, and anything else that would otherwise be handled by a city.

The first round of candidate selections for my job will be completed on March 5th, when the voters of the 1st District will choose their preferred candidates on the same day as the state-wide primary election. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the votes, the second and final round of interviews will conclude on November 5th. Either way, the new hire will start January 1st, 2025. Choose  wisely, as a lot is at stake!

Visit Voteinfo.net or call 800-345-VOTE (8683) for more information about the March 5th election.

When Government Won’t Say Sorry. I recently was invited to attend a large group meeting to discuss a technical issue involving state and county regulatory standards related to both new construction and remodeling projects (yes, I’m  being vague to protect the “innocent”). The discussion covered complex items with several professional individuals covering various points of view. One speaker was a local  government representative with knowledge and hands-on oversight of the actual state and local requirements and is responsible for interpreting and enforcing the regulations. A knowledgeable attendee asked who he can appeal to when he is given incorrect or bad  direction from a subordinate of the local government official?  The response was candid but tragic. Simply put, the reply was something like - you can appeal to me, but I won’t be inclined to overturn my  subordinate  because I do not want to  undermine their confidence in their own job. I about fell out of my chair. So, a potentially expensive bad or incorrect regulatory directive to a citizen is going to stand because we don’t want to hurt feelings? What happened to having a teachable moment? What happened to doing the right thing? What happened to honesty and integrity? That response is a failure of  leadership.

 

As always – I welcome your suggestions to improve county services or even your complaints or concerns to get something fixed!

 

Respectfully,

Kevin Jeffries

First District County Supervisor

 

 

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