Petition to the Orange County Board of Supervisors:

Our demands are simple. We want a county budget that prioritizes vibrant, healthy, and safe communities over law enforcement and jails!

On June 11, the OC Board of Supervisors heard strong voices  from members of the community share the demands below as they prepared to vote on a budget that determines how they spend OUR tax dollars. Included in our demands for improved community access we demanded hybrid meeting options so all can participate live and real time along with interpretation provided at every meeting!

Like always, this year’s recommended budget pours money into law enforcement and jails at the expense of desperately needed investments in vibrant, healthy, and safe communities. On June 25th the Board will meet again to finalize the budget.  
The Supervisors control a discretionary budget of over $1 billion  (sometimes called “Net County Costs”) for which they set the priorities. Because the Supervisors work for us, the budget they develop and vote on should reflect our priorities.

The time for action is now! Sign this petition today and share with colleagues and friends to demand investments in our communities, not Orange County’s apparatus of social control.

OUR DEMANDS

HOUSING JUSTICE: Orange County is in the throes of an affordable housing and houselessness crisis. But you wouldn’t know it by looking at the budget. Last year the county spent less than 40 cents per resident of its own money on housing. Contrast that with the $102 per resident of its own money the county spent on the sheriff’s department and jails. This year’s recommended budget isn’t much different: it commits $0.34 per resident on affordable housing and $102 per resident on the sheriff’s department and jails. Meanwhile, the cost of rent continues to skyrocket, and houselessness has jumped by 28% over the last two years. Over 500 people died while living on the streets of our wealthy but unequal county last year. We demand a budget that prioritizes safe, permanent affordable housing. Housing is healthcare, and housing saves lives. The supervisors must also place a countywide local housing bond measure on the ballot to leverage state housing resources and fund new affordable housing for low-income families and people experiencing houselessness throughout the county and be a better partner to cities in meeting Housing Element goals.

 

COMMUNITY HEALTH: Orange County must invest in community-based responses to residents’ mental health needs. Community health should not include law enforcement responses to mental health crises such as mental health outreach police units, law enforcement training, or ridealongs that pair mental health professionals with police. Instead, funding should go to non-law enforcement outreach teams housed in the Health Care Agency and/or nonprofit organizations, to provide community-based, accessible, affordable, long-term, voluntary, and outpatient mental health and substance use treatment.

 

IMMIGRATION JUSTICE: Orange County must invest in holistically supporting community members who do not have citizenship including formerly detained undocumented community members. Support could include re-entry services, transitional services, and legal resources.

We demand investment in Padilla Attorneys at each OC Court, including the Central Court, North Court, Harbor Court, West Court, Juvenile Court, Mental Health Court, and Alternate Defender Court. Increasing the funding to ensure a minimum of one Padilla Attorney per Public Defender Office will uphold the constitutional rights of Orange County residents and protect community members from harmful immigration laws. We urge the county to hire (7) Padillas at the following level: Attorney III positions that per the new county pay scale is on Salary Schedule L effective it’ll be $124,446.40 to $172,348.80. 

To satisfy constitutional and statutory obligations, many Public Defender offices, including Orange County, have specialized Padilla attorneys to help provide immigration advisals and mitigate the immigration consequences of the criminal convictions that noncitizen clients may face. Padilla attorneys are needed because immigration law is extremely complex and it would be burdensome, if not impossible, for every public defender to independently research and provide the advisal. If this funding is not, at the least, maintained, then the county could face challenges in meeting constitutional and statutory obligations.

Even if this funding is maintained, additional funding is critically needed to expand the services and capacity of Padilla legal support to adequately handle the growing number of referrals and ensure comprehensive legal representation for noncitizen clients. 
Orange County has the funding to expand Universal Representation i.e., provide a lawyer to all community members facing deportation. The Universal Representation pilot program in Santa Ana costs just $400,000; the average cost of just one full-time position in the sheriff’s department is $200,000.

 

ECONOMIC JUSTICE: Orange County should invest in economic assistance for people who are struggling financially through wage and income support. Orange County must invest in labor equity, supporting local businesses and demanding that all employers treat workers fairly and compensate them with a living wage.

 

SOCIAL JUSTICE: Orange County proposes spending $1.77 billion on “public protection” next year. This is equivalent to $556 per county resident (including children). Over two-thirds of these funds go to OCSD. “Public Protection” is receiving 50.7% of the net county costs. Our community does not need more law enforcement. We need more housing and investment in community care-first models. Last year, Orange County spent $270 million or $86 per resident on OCSD’s Custody Division compared to less than 40 cents per resident of its own money on housing.

We urge the Board of Supervisors to spend our taxpayer dollars in a way that aligns with our values and is responsive to our needs. We demand investments that are necessary to create true community safety. The safest communities are not those that are policed most heavily, rather they are the ones that receive robust investments in quality of life. Discretionary dollars should not go to OCSD, OCDA, or Probation, they should be invested in our community.

We, the undersigned residents, advocates, and community members, urge the Orange County Board of Supervisors to prioritize strong, healthy, and safe communities by investing in Orange County residents, not law enforcement and jails. 

ACT NOW!!

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