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13 <br /> 1 and to collapse them into this department would be a mistake. He said that this is an unusual <br /> 2 and ironic way to celebrate Human Relations Month. He said that efficiency is important, but <br /> 3 this might not move the issues about civil rights, human rights, and women's rights forward. He <br /> 4 asked the Board to postpone any action on this recommendation until broad input has been <br /> 5 solicited. <br /> 6 <br /> 7 Frank Clifton said that this is Orange County and there is no shortage of the public to <br /> 8 bring forth issues to the Board of County Commissioners, regardless of the organizational <br /> 9 structure. He said that some of the comments are correct in that staff did not solicit comment <br /> 10 from the boards since these are commissions the Board of County Commissioners appoints <br /> 11 and he wanted to bring this to the Board beforehand. He said that staff has spent a lot of time <br /> 12 on this internally and they wanted to make sure that they retain some flexibility. <br /> 13 Commissioner Nelson asked Frank Clifton to put this reorganization in context with other <br /> 14 reorganizations. He said that the last County Manager pursued reorganizations before she left <br /> 15 and Frank Clifton has continued to look at efficiencies. <br /> 16 Frank Clifton said that one of the issues is that there are many boards and commissions <br /> 17 that have overlapping responsibilities, without broader visions. He said that orange County <br /> 18 cannot continue to function as it has in the past unless citizens want to support it through higher <br /> 19 taxes. He said that, in the end, the County Commissioners are responsible for County services. <br /> 20 The input by the boards and commissions is important, but in the end, the County <br /> 21 Commissioners are responsible for the outcome. <br /> 22 Commissioner Pelissier said that there is concern about subsuming functions into <br /> 23 another department and she said that the Manager's Memo states that this is an integration of <br /> 24 functions. She said that they may need to change the name of the Housing and Community <br /> 25 Development Department because the point is to integrate the two functions and not squash <br /> 26 the function of the Human Rights and Relations department. <br /> 27 Commissioner Yuhasz said that he appreciates the passion that volunteers brought <br /> 28 forward, but he wanted to address the verbiage of volunteers using the words our staff". He <br /> 29 said that these are the County's staff and not the boards and commissions' staff. <br /> 30 Commissioner Jacobs said that he appreciated what the Manager is trying to <br /> 31 accomplish and he said that the changes in the by-laws are overdue. He thinks that the way <br /> 32 this has come forward is unfortunate. He said that the Board of County Commissioners is <br /> 33 going to meet on Friday to talk about boards and commissions and to have this just spring up <br /> 34 out of the blue for people that have been dedicated is not the way that Orange County <br /> 35 government should work or has worked. He agreed with Commissioner Pelissier that there <br /> 36 needs to be a different name for Housing and Community Development to make it clear that <br /> 37 this is the place where someone would go regarding concerns about social justice. Also, he is <br /> 38 not clear that there is going to be a person or a place in that department that would deal with <br /> 39 the social justice issue. He said that these two boards and commissions should be able to <br /> 40 comment on these suggested changes before the Board takes action on this item. He said that <br /> 41 what distinguishes Orange County's government is that sometimes the County Commissioners <br /> 42 empower boards to challenge them. He does not want to take this out of the mix. <br /> 43 Commissioner Cordon thanked the public for speaking and said that boards and <br /> 44 commissions provide valuable services. She said that there are two issues—reorganization of <br /> 45 County departments and what happens to these two boards. She said that since they are <br /> 46 having a retreat on February 19th it is premature tonight to make decisions about any boards <br /> 47 and commissions. She said that you cannot see the social justice and human rights function in <br /> 48 the housing department reorganization chart. There are overlaps in the area of housing and <br /> 49 human rights and relations, but there are other things that the HRR and CfW do that are not <br />