Let OC Human Relations Stand On Its Own

Orange County has a Human Relations Commission.

It also has a Human Relations Council.

What's the difference?

It's hard to say. The two groups function de facto as a single organization, sharing an office and the same executive director. Even the nomenclature blurs the line: the self-references are more to "OC Human Relations" than to a Council or a Commission.

Human Relations Commission
The HR Commission is an agency of county government, funded by the County of Orange with an additional subvention from the HR Council. It has three paid staff, including Executive Director Rusty Kennedy, who is also executive director of the Human Relations Council. Rusty receives a county salary of $131,000 as E.D. of the Commission, but isn't paid as HR Council executive director.

The two organizations share an office in a county building in Santa Ana. The Human Relations Council doesn't pay rent, but counts the free use of the county office on its Form 990 as $213,548 in "donated services and use of facilities."

The proposed Human Relations Commission budget for 2007-08 is $437,166. $300,000 will come from the county (unless the Supes summon some will and nix that) and the remaining $137,167 from the Human Relations Council.

That $437,166 budget breaks down thus:

Salaries and benefits: $339,907
Supplies and services: $97,259

In other words, 78% of the Commissions budget is devoted to salaries and benefits.

Human Relations Council
The Human Relations Council is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. It has an unpaid board of directors and five paid staff members. According to the Form 990 covering 2004 (the most recent available on Guidestar), the Council had 2004 revenues of $1,347,804 and expenses of $1,400,759 -- for a $52,955 deficit.

The five member staff earn nice salaries:

Name                        Title (as listed)     2004  Salary

Cheryl Russell             DIR RES DEV          $77,514
Danielle Nava             DIR SIERP              $77,482
Alphonso Clarke          DIR DRPA              $64,649
Illiana Soto                 DIR COMM DEV      $68,409
Edgar Medina             Coordinator           $60,297

Comparing that to the salaries listed in the Form 990 for 2003 and it's clear 2004 was a good year for the Human Relations Council staff, as everyone received generous raises of between $12,029 and $9,774:

Name                        Title (as listed)     2003  Salary

Cheryl Russell             DIR RES DEV          $66,955
Danielle Nava             DIR SIERP              $67,101
Alphonso Clarke          DIR SIERP              $52,620
Illiana Soto                 DIR COMM DEV      $58,635
David Southern           Events                  $50,470

They also began receiving "Other employee benefits": between 2003 and 2004, that line item went from zero to $149,638.

Wean OC Human Relations From The Taxpayer Teat
There doesn't seem to be any real difference between the Human Relations Commission and the Human Relations Council. They function as a single organization and Rusty Kennedy runs them both -- but his salary, benefits and pension are paid for by the county taxpayers (as are most of the salaries/benefits of the two Commission employees), and the county provides free office space and equipment.

The Council has proven itself more than capable of raising $1.5 million or more a year to fund programs that aren't legitimate government functions. County government shouldn't be in the business of forcing county taxpayers to shell out for "Living Room Dialogs" and "Latino-Muslim Community Exchanges." Let the Human Relations Council run such programs on freely given dimes.

The county budget comes to the Board for a vote this Tuesday. The Human Relations Commission should be pulled and voted on as a separate item. The Board voted 4-1 to fund the HR Commission on a  straw vote last week. Only John Moorlach voted no, and Supervisor Chris Norby inexplicably flip-flopped from years of opposing HRC funding to voting "yes." Supervisors Pat Bates and Janet Nguyen, who campaigned as conservatives, also voted to fund another year of touchy-feely liberal do-gooding at taxpayer expense.

Putting the Human Relations Commission to a separate vote will give Norby an opportunity to re-establish his libertarian bona fides. It will also give Bates and Nguyen a chance to redeem that straw vote and vote like the conservatives they campaigned as.

If just two of those three vote with Moorlach, we'll be treated to that rare spectacle of a government agency being eliminated.

Comments

AMEN
Jubal, I hope and pray the BOS will be sensible and do exactly what you recommend here.

[FLowerszzz]

Those are some pretty hefty salaries for sure! To be honest I can not think of one event or thing the HRC has done.

[Patricia]

Salaries from $60K to $131K. Wow, their civic mindedness brings a tear to my eyes.

Perhaps Norby voted no when it was only a token vote; he feared being part of a vote that would finally oust these folks.

Until they can prove that OC residents are so racist that a cabal of highly paid professionals is needed to keep them in check, they should be funded by donations only.

[Dan Chmielewski]

Nice salaries? Try raising your family on that. This is mid-tier salaries for staff poitions in the private sector. If the ability to raise money is the standard, then lets hold the Orange County Council of BSA to the same standard.

[Chris Prevatt]

Matt,

Since you continue to choose to misrepresent the good work of the Human Relations Commission and the Human Relations Council here are their respective Mission Statements and brief history from the website.

Mission Statement: COMMISSION

"To Build mutual understanding among residents and to eliminate prejudice, intolerance and discrimination"

In 1971, the Orange County Board of Supervisors in collaboration with the League of Cities created the Orange County Human Relations Commission. Over the last 34 years, Orange County has changed dramatically, transitioning from a predominately white suburban community to a diverse urban county.

Of the more than 3 million residents. Two thirds of the students in Orange County K-12 schools are ethnic minorities. This rapid demographic change underscores the need for an effective human relations organization. The Commission is governed by 11 Commissioners appointed by the Board of Supervisors and the League of Cities, and administered by the Orange County Housing Community Services Department.

Mission Statement: COUNCIL

"To foster mutual understanding among residents in order to make Orange county a better place for ALL people to live, work and do business"

The Orange County Human Relations Council is a private, non-profit 501(c)3 organization founded in 1991 for the purpose of developing and implementing proactive human relations programs in partnership with schools, corporations, cities, foundations and individuals. The Council provides an award winning violence prevention program in the schools, conflict resolution programs and inter group relations initiatives in the communities all over Orange County. Supported through grants, donations, fees and contracts, the Council is governed by a Board of Directors consisting of diverse community leaders and guided by a Community Partners Advisory Board that is comprised of executives from major corporations and institutions.

Matt, the work the Human Relations Commission does to build mutual understanding among residents and to eliminate prejudice, intolerance and discrimination is indeed the proper function of government. As the Preamble to the United States Constitution states…

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

The work of the Council does to provide award winning violence prevention programming in the schools, conflict resolution programs and inter group relations initiatives in communities all over Orange County is facilitated and fostered by the generous support of the Board of Supervisors for the Commission. That support is leveraged to generate $1.8 million in private funding necessary to support the 20 professional staff members of the Commission and Council. Highlighting the top five salaries from the Council 990 filing for 2004 hardly represents the salaries of all twenty individuals on staff.

Matt the Boy Scouts also receive support from the Board of Supervisors in the form of free use of County facilities. The free use of 400 feet of harbor front property on Pacific Coast Highway in Newport Beach is direct public funding of the Boy Scouts.

The OC Boy Scouts Council has been around 86 years, and they raise millions of dollars every year, $19 million in 2005. Over the past three years, the Boy Scouts Council’s net assets – what the organization is worth after subtracting its debts – climbed 41 percent, from $27.8 million to $39.2 million.

So let’s use your logic here Matt; I think its about time they were weaned off the taxpayer teat and start footing the bill and pay the County market rate to use the Sea Base facility in Newport Beach.

Matt, just because you do not support the mission of the Human Relations Commission and the Human Relations Council does not mean that the Commission should not receive support from the County of Orange.

[Jubal]

Chris:

I'm not misrepresenting anything. The HRC can facilitate and dialog and mediate to their hearts content. Just don't do it with tax dollars extracted from taxpayers.

There's no connection between the HRC and the Boy Scouts other than your obsession with the Scouts.

The Scouts raised the money to build that SeaBase. The county leased them the land, the Scouts raised the funds to build the base. Now the county owns a beautiful facility, and the taxpayers didn't have to pay for it. The SeaBase is open to use by the entire community. The Scouts operate and maintain the base for the county.

Comparing the HRC with the Scouts isn't apples and oranges. You're not even comparing the same food group.

[Jubal]

Highlighting the top five salaries from the Council 990 filing for 2004 hardly represents the salaries of all twenty individuals on staff.

Those are the only salaries listed on the Form 990s, Chris.

Matt, just because you do not support the mission of the Human Relations Commission and the Human Relations Council does not mean that the Commission should not receive support from the County of Orange.

Chris, just because you do support the mission of the Human Relations Commission and the Human Relations Council does not mean that the Commission should receive support from the County of Orange.

Now we've gotten that line of argument out of the way.

[FLowerszzz]

Good gawd Prevatt - Let it go! The BOY SCOUTS ARE NOT COUNTY FUNDED! We are talking about COUNTY taxpayer $$. Let the Taxpayers of Newport Beach bitch about their $ going towards the Boy Scouts. You keep comparing apples and oranges.

[FLowerszzz]

And Chris when and wher has the HRC done anything that you can actually prove?

[Chris Prevatt]

Matt,

From a March 26, 2004 Press Release.

NEWPORT BEACH, CA—(March 26, 2004). Snyder Langston, one of Southern California’s largest and oldest builders/developers of commercial/industrial real estate, has completed the renovation and expansion of the Newport Sea Base for the Orange County Council, Boy Scouts of America.

Located in Newport Beach along Coast Highway, the new Sea Base was constructed by Snyder Langston’s institutional building group at a cost of $5.3 million. The Orange County Council, Boy Scouts of America contributed over $1.5 million to complete the overall Sea Base project.

From what I can tell, the Boy Scouts did indeed renovate the facility recently, but at least according to this release they only raised a portion of the funds to pay for the new facility. Also, there are no free services offered to the community for the free use of the facility, Everything offered at the Sea Base is only available for a fee.

You keep saying I am comparing apples and oranges. The only recognizable difference between the support recieved by the Boys Scouts for the Sea Base, and the support recieved by the Human Relations Commission is that the County does not pay money directly to the Boy Scouts or pay directly for staff.

But you don't want to talk about the County support of the Sea Base because the reality runs contrary to your argument.

So, that being the case, let's talk about funding for the commission. I understand that you serve on one of the County Commissions, Harbors, Parks, and Beaches. I know you are aware that there is a cost to operate an advisory commission to the Board of Supervisors. You have suggested in a previous post that the costs of running the Commission is far too high. Got news for you, not higher than what would be expected. When I served as staff support to the County's HIV Planning Council the costs for direct expenses maxed out at around $300,000. Due to funding reductions the amount directly attributed to HIV Planning Council support has dropped to below $250,000 but the same costs exist, they are just funded out of other grant revenues.

Funding for the many commissions of the County of Orange is a required responsibility of government to facilitate and provide for the general welfare of our community, and ensure domestic tranquility (that is peace and harmony). The small investment in the Human Relations Commission helps make the fundraising of the Council successful. Without that support, the quality programming offered would be reduced.

If the County were to cease providing the free land for the Boy Scout Sea Base, services offered by the Boy Scouts would similarly be reduced. For the record, I support funding for both the Sea Base and the Human Relations Commission.

So where is the difference again Matt?

[Patricia]

Dan,
The only people I know who make salaries like $60,000 to $131K are doctors, lawyers or upper echelon management. And many of us do indeed raise families on less or on salaries of two parents that equal the $130K.

To Mr. Prevatt, no one disputes that your mission is very nice. I just don't see why you deserve all this tax money. The HRC refuses to admit that race relations are getting better all the time, and that's because the American people believe in equality, not because of government-funded minders.

[just..asking]

The Human Relations Commission is the first stop when a city needs support on demographic issues. Support is not only for race relations but also for best practices in dealing with seniors and the disabled residents the cities serve.

Whether we like it or not, OC is changing, both the asian and hispanic populations are growing rapidly. The density of our cities are creating more areas of conflict. Cities are challenged to provide services to a much more diverse taxpayer/resident base. This is what the Human Relations does. Without this county function, cities would be forced to spend money directly on staff or consultants to address these issues. While this might be welcome to some it seems to me that this is an area where OC should address issues as a unified county.

[flower or corn ... big or chiqito ...]

here's another one ... what's the difference between OC's transportation commish and da OC COG ... why not merge them or just ban one of them ...

[just..asking]

Acutally corn the one you would want to collapse is OC League of Cities and OC Council of Governments. Cities pay directly into pools to pay for the services. Many functions and roles overlap, until very recently the management was the same. Bank Accounts were mingled and budgets were veiled in such a way to disguise problems.

Cities should band together and find a better way to spend this money.

[just..asking]

Acutally corn the one you would want to collapse is OC League of Cities and OC Council of Governments. Cities pay directly into pools to pay for the services. Many functions and roles overlap, until very recently the management was the same. Bank Accounts were mingled and budgets were veiled in such a way to disguise problems.

Cities should band together and find a better way to spend this money.