Orange County Government Agencies

A new welfare office to serve poor and elderly residents in South County will open April 1 near La Paz Road and McIntyre Street. Financing the office became a priority in September after an attempt by county officials to close down the small welfare office in San Juan Capistrano caused a public outcry. Those opposing the closure said it would force the poor to make the long trip to the county welfare office in Costa Mesa. The San Juan Capistrano office was closed for less than a week.

Steven K. Wong, a 24-year veteran of Orange County's Environmental Health Division, was appointed its director Monday. In his new position, Wong, 51, who was interim director of the division, will oversee a program with 200 employees. He is expected to earn more than $95,000 a year. Wong began as an environmental health specialist for the county in 1977. Later he served as manager of the hazardous waste program.

Hundreds of Orange County workers are expected to lose their jobs in early January under a sweeping plan, passed by the Board of Supervisors on Thursday, to slash $40.2 million from the county's budget over the next six months. Most of the cuts will come from salaries, and nearly every county government service--from the courts to health care to social services programs--will be targeted. More reductions may follow if the county's financial situation deteriorates.

Chas Sweeney has a dream. Even though the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday has been a national holiday for 15 years, only 12 of Orange County's 33 city governments, along with county offices, observe it by closing their doors. Sweeney says all cities should honor the slain civil rights leader, starting with his town, Laguna Beach. So, today, he plans to use his day off to protest in front of Laguna Beach City Hall in what he hopes will be the beginning of a groundswell in Orange County.

In the wake of one of Orange County's bloodiest gang attacks, Garden Grove Councilman and former Police Chief Frank Kessler called Monday for the creation of a regional gang-suppression task force, as police tried to forestall another round of violence. "These gangs don't respect city or county borders," said Kessler at a Monday night City Council meeting. "I think we need to take a lesson from the formation of the countywide regional narcotics task force four years ago."

Orange County may have improperly spent more than $800,000 in highly restricted John Wayne Airport funds to pay contractors at the former El Toro Marine base, documents show.

Hundreds of Orange County workers are expected to lose their jobs in early January under a sweeping plan, passed by the Board of Supervisors on Thursday, to slash $40.2 million from the county's budget over the next six months. Most of the cuts will come from salaries, and nearly every county government service--from the courts to health care to social services programs--will be targeted. More reductions may follow if the county's financial situation deteriorates.

A new South County office of the Social Services Agency has opened to provide assistance through the Aid to Families with Dependent Children, food stamp and Medi-Cal programs. The new office will serve El Toro, Mission Viejo, Laguna Hills, Aliso Viejo, Trabuco Canyon, Rancho Santa Margarita, Coto de Caza, Laguna Beach, Laguna Niguel, San Juan Capistrano, Dana Point, San Clemente and Emerald Bay.

From her corner office on the ground floor of the county Hall of Administration, Gayle Anderson, the county's official diplomat, fields calls from foreign ambassadors, makes appointments to meet royalty, and chats with foreign businessmen interested in Orange County. Anderson's volunteer work as chief of protocol is all part of a 10-year effort by the county office of protocol to change the county image from that of sidekick to Los Angeles to one of haven for international investment.

On New Year's Eve, Leo Crawford will have his beeper on, cell phone and car keys at the ready, and a bottle of aspirin at bedside. As Orange County's Y2K computer guru, Crawford has spent the last 24 months ensuring that he will grab the keys and not the aspirin. Maybe. "I'm optimistic," he said, "but I guarantee we will have missed something, some little thing that won't be life-threatening. But there's just too much to make an assumption that nothing's going to go wrong."

Love swelled across the "Orange Curtain" on Wednesday as couples from Los Angeles County trekked south for marriage licenses after being greeted with apologies and closed doors by striking public employees. Phyllis Bates, 37, and Leonard Johnson, 49, of Carson beamed with relief as, five minutes before closing, they waited to pay $61.50 for a license at the century-old brick Old Courthouse in Santa Ana. They had been turned away earlier from clerk's offices in Los Angeles and Norwalk.

Love swelled across the "Orange Curtain" Wednesday as couples from Los Angeles County trekked south for marriage licenses after being greeted with apologies and closed doors by striking public employees there. Phyllis Bates, 37, and Leonard Johnson, 49, of Carson beamed with relief as, five minutes before closing, they waited to pay $61.50 for a license at the century-old brick Old Courthouse in Santa Ana. They had been turned away earlier from clerks' offices in Los Angeles and Norwalk.

Reacting to grand jury criticism, county supervisors on Thursday approved formation of a task force to conduct an assessment of the county foster care system, including the lack of transitional living programs for those who have reached the age of 18. Supervisor Cynthia P. Coad, who pushed for the two-year task force, said she wanted a strong group that could "dig into and find the issues" to help protect foster care children.

Armed with millions of dollars in federal funds from the Workplace Investment Act, Orange County and the cities of Anaheim and Santa Ana have set up boards to assist people in either finding employment or upgrading their skills to get better jobs. The boards will also work with businesses to determine what skills they need.

Reacting to costly closures of large stretches of local beach last summer, the Orange County Grand Jury on Tuesday recommended hiring two staff members and adding a new information system to the beleaguered county agency that monitors coastal pollution. "Huge numbers of tourist dollars and many local jobs are put at risk when beach water is considered unsafe for recreational use," the grand jury's report said.

Wanted: Good planner. Goal-oriented person who gets results to put an airport at El Toro. Must be political. County supervisors Wednesday considered a list of candidates to hire as interim director for a newly formed department to plan an international airport at the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station.

Six months before a elderly man died from alleged neglect, a county social worker had visited his home and determined that he was being adequately cared for, according to court records. Robert Heitzman, 68, was found by paramedics at his home in the 19000 block of Stingray Lane on Dec. 3, 1990, lying in a soiled bed, apparently dead for several hours.

Several Orange County agencies that aid the poor filed suit Friday in federal court against the Social Security Administration, contending that the agency gives insufficient help to poor people with mental disabilities.

County supervisors gave the go-ahead Tuesday for a new department to plan an international airport at the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station but went out of their way to praise the performance of County Executive Officer Jan Mittermeier, who some suspect may sue them for establishing the new office. Mittermeier, whose mother is ill, was not at work and did not attend the board meeting. But her attorney, Wylie A.

The city has received clearance from the Navy to sublease 250 acres on the former Marine Corps Air Station in Tustin to a handful of public agencies. The Navy will allow the city to lease the parcel by June 12, but the agencies, including the South Orange County Community College District, the county and Tustin Unified School District, will be able to use and maintain only existing buildings. Construction of new facilities cannot occur until negotiations between the city and Navy are finalized.