County Can’t Sell Utility Districts

I am amazed that the Reason Foundation and Robert W. Poole Jr. (“O.C. Urged to Privatize, Sell Land, Cut Workers,” Feb. 16) thinks that the County of Orange can sell the water and sanitation districts. If this idea is indicative of the level of understanding the Reason Foundation has of how local government and utility services are organized, it leads me to suspect the balance of their suggestions for paying off the county’s indebtedness.

The water and sanitation districts are independently chartered by the state Legislature and are not under the control of the (County) Board of Supervisors. Advocating the sale of the districts is equivalent to advocating the sale of Disneyland: an interesting proposition but the proceeds of the sale would not accrue to the County of Orange.

Poole cites San Diego County as an example for Orange County to follow. In fact, San Diego and Orange County rank first and second among all urban counties in California in having the lowest number of county employees per capita. There is not much room for improvement there. Orange County is already lean and mean. Poole proposes cutting through the bone to the marrow.

Privatization is a simplistic answer to complex governmental responsibilities. Bring in a contractor on a low bid and we will find that the contractor’s profit depends on how little service he can provide. Orange County already contracts out everything it practically can.

We must, very quickly, make the schools whole and avoid default on our debt.

The bond market is waiting for us to earmark a revenue stream to repay the loans we need to get moving again. That sounds like a sales tax to me because it is the only thing state law permits us to use even though our circumstances are truly exceptional.

Wake up and deal with the problem, supervisors!

ALAN J. NESTLINGER

Santa Ana