By Jerry Kern
One of the cornerstones for my District Five Supervisor campaign is my belief that as government officials, we are in the service delivery business.
In return for residents involuntarily turning over their tax dollars, the County of San Diego should provide the required services in the most effective and economical manner possible.
Currently working its way through state legislation is a bill that if passed, will have a chilling effect on not only local businesses, but community based organizations and non-profits as well.
Authored by Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D-Los Angeles), and backed by various public employee unions, Assembly Bill 1250 would significantly inhibit the ability of those entities to provide services to our communities and to those who need them most.
Once the bill goes into effect, organizations would be required to disclose personal information about their employees and officers in order to provide services to the County.
Information that includes the salaries and benefits of all workers involved and in addition, all the options and other forms of compensation for the top five highest paid officers, directors, executives and employees.
Besides the obvious privacy concerns, AB 1250 will require the County to demonstrate that contracts with non-profits will “not cause the displacement of county workers.”
In other words – if a contract could save money and provide better services – it would not be permitted if it somehow displaced just one county worker.
At its core, AB 1250 fundamentally seeks to stop counties from contracting with outside service providers that have the expertise, capacity, and ability to deliver services more efficiently than government employees.
There is no way to overstate how bad this bill would be for the residents of San Diego County. If approved, costs would soar and services would be diminished at a time when we should be looking for greater efficiencies and better service delivery methods.
Jerry Kern is currently serving as an Oceanside Council Member and is running for District 5 San Diego County Supervisor.
