By Jeff Poole
Review Managing Editor
Published: April 17, 2008

Maintain interest
beyond the budget

Tuesday night, the Orange County Board of Supervisors adopted the 2008-09 budget and set the county tax rate.
By a 3-1vote (with one abstention), the board raised local taxes $.05, but cut a number of popular programs--including parks and recreation activities and the Child Garden child care facility.
Each budget cycle, there is a hot-button issue that generates the most public sentiment and support.
The Child Garden and the dramatic cuts to parks and recreation are the top issues this year--as is most of the board’s commitment to constructing a new middle school at the county’s eastern end.
Whether you support the board’s decision or are frustrated by their actions, remember that it doesn’t stop here.
The board of supervisors meets twice a month whether they’re discussing budget issues or not.
Citizen input and participation are essential components of representative government.
We encourage those who have written letters and spoken up in support of parks and recreation and the Child Garden or spoken out against the school construction project to continue participating in local government.
Our supervisors can’t work in a vacuum. We don’t want them to.
Don’t let the last two months be the pinnacle of your public participation.
Stay involved. Stay informed. And most importantly, stay tuned.

Despite hard times,
helping hands still needed
Hard times affect us all.
We may be able to happily ignore first quarter earnings that fall below budget for the nation’s conglomerates. It’s easy to be removed from cutbacks at manufacturing facilities in far-off states.
But somehow, someway, our nation’s economic downturn impacts us all.
Companies cut costs and jobs. Gas prices are high which drive up the prices for goods and services. Housing values are down. Taxes are up.
Suddenly, we’ve all found ourselves pinched a little more than we’d like. Our dollar doesn’t go as far.
An unexpected side-effect is the impact of our economy on charitable giving.
With less money to spend, most of us circle our financial wagons and reduce spending to the barest necessities of life-food, shelter, medical care. Our discretionary spending takes a hit. Surely we can live without that beach trip this year or the new car or the home improvement project. But what about those folks who survive on our well-being? What about those whose margins are maximized and now find themselves unable to give and now needing to receive? 
When times are good, we donate money to feed the hungry, clothe the poor, offer shelter to the homeless. We share the wealth-such that it is.
We’ve got to take care of ourselves, but we can’t forget about our friends and neighbors.
When our own finances take a hit, so do theirs. We can live without our luxuries, but often our luxuries fill their basic needs. When times are tough, we must remember we’re not the only ones struggling.
Hard times affect us all-even if it’s a matter of scale.