Santa Ana

It’s a small victory in the fight against the myth that outsourcing critical services is a panacea for municipal budget woes, but a victory none the less. On Monday, the Huntington Beach City Council decided against moving forward with a proposal to outsource the staff of the City Attorney’s office.

We’re hoping that today’s special City Council meeting in Anaheim to decide whether to place two initiative proposals to amend the city charter on the November ballot doesn’t erupt into violent protests similar to those which disrupted a council meeting earlier this month. Mayor Tom Tait has set the meeting to be held at 4 p.m. in the Anaheim High School Cook Auditorium.

Over the weekend I reviewed some of the old LiberalOC posts about the 2008 scandal where Carlos Bustamante got away with making sexist and inappropriate remarks about Sheriff appointee Sandra Hutchens in the Hall of Administration and in front of an LATimes reporter. Looking back, it appears that the dysfunction of the County Public Works Department, and CEO Tom Mauk’s oversight of management was readily apparent.