Annual report shows county in motion

In the words of the county’s chief administrative officer, the best organiza­tions in the nation don’t stand still.

“They keep evolving and challenging their operations,” CAO Helen Robbins- Meyer says. “The County of San Diego is maturing into a world-class organiza­tion because it is a county in motion.”

In a report published this month, that movement is presented in a narrative that is rich with information, colorful charts and photographs.

Our County of San Diego Annual Re­port for 2014-15 shows the great prog­ress we have made toward realizing our vision of building better health, living safely and thriving.

The county government is on a mis­sion to efficiently provide public servic­es that build strong and sustainable com­munities. And while our work is never done, this annual report shows we are accomplishing that mission.

For example, we have enlisted more than 140 organizations as official part­ners in our regional wellness initiative, Live Well San Diego. The principles of Live Well San Diego underlie everything we do, and I take pride in having recog­nized dozens of our Live Well Partners with official county proclamations.

New partners include the Solana Cen­ter for Environmental Innovation, San Diego Botanic Garden and the Surfing Madonna Oceans Project in Encinitas.

Working with our partners, we have expanded assistance for Alzheimer’s disease patients and their caregivers and have dedicated resources to support re­search for a cure. We have stepped up our monitoring of long-term care facili­ties.

On the public safety front, 2014-15 brought reductions in crime in areas cov­ered by our Sheriff’s Department. Mean­while, our Probation Department is see­ing reductions in the juvenile population it houses as a result of comprehensive re-entry programs, the report shows.

We have added aircraft to our fire­fighting fleet and have secured funding to bring more crews to the fire lines.

Mental health services for people of all ages are improving. We have ap­proved funding for supportive housing for mentally ill people and have in­creased the number of teams that respond to crisis situations in the field. This year, the Board of Supervisors voted to adopt Laura’s Law, which allows for court-or­dered treatment of severely mentally ill people who refuse care and, as a result, present a risk to themselves or others.

Mental health services are among many that are offered at the county’s North Inland Live Well Center, which opened this summer in Escondido. The county also supported the opening of the Hawthorne Veterans and Family Re­source Center in Escondido.

The report shows we earned 43 achievement awards from the National Association of Counties, and a Grand Golden Watchdog award from the San Diego Taxpayers Association for our ef­forts to streamline solar permitting.

Our strong fiscal management re­mains a point of great pride, as reflected in our Triple A bond ratings from the country’s three major rating agencies. That makes ours one of six counties out of 3,089 in the nation to earn this gold standard rating.

To view the report, visit www.sd­countyannualreport.com.

Thanks so much to our county work­force for delivering the outstanding services that are captured in the report. Make it a great Live Well San Diego Day!

Dave Roberts represents the Third District on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors.