Orange became the third Orange County city to leave the state’s largest municipal advocacy organization over the group’s support for Prop 1 – a statewide measure some local officials fear will increase virtually unregulated drug treatment homes in neighborhoods.
Over the past two weeks, a majority of city council members in Newport Beach and Huntington Beach voted to leave the League of California Cities, citing fears of unregulated group homes proliferating in neighborhoods.
Concerns about the League of Cities run deep in Orange County – a place where elected officials created a competing advocacy group known as the Association of California Cities – Orange County.
Councilman Jon Dumitru cautioned against the move Tuesday night, recalling when Orange last left the League of cities – a move he supported over a decade ago.
“For lack of a better phrase, it was a retaliatory action we took against the League to say we’ve had enough and we’re on our own – which actually at that time formed ACC-OC, which has now I think taken a direction I’m not a big fan of,” Dumitru said.
The vote in Huntington Beach pitted Republican council members, holding onto a tight majority, against Democrats.
Another narrow majority in the City of Orange followed suit Tuesday night, with council members voting 3-2 to immediately pull out of the league if city officials can get their $40,000 membership dues refunded.
If the city can’t get an immediate refund, council members directed staff to bail out when their membership is up for renewal next year.
The Orange vote witnessed two Republican voices voting against leaving the League of Cities, with Mayor Dan Slater – who ran as a Republican and later changed to No Party Preference – and Dumitru, a Republican, voting against the move.
Councilwoman Arianna Barrios abstained, citing a conflict of interest with her job; and Councilwoman Ana Gutierrez was absent.
The move was spearheaded by Councilwoman Kathy Tavoularis, a Republican who said the city’s dealing with budget issues and Prop 1 wasn’t the sole reason for the city’s withdrawal – but a big factor.
“It’s not the reason, but it did put in my mind that the league is in a different place right now. I will tell you that Orange overwhelmingly aggressively voted no on Prop 1,” Tavoularis said during Tuesday’s meeting.
Her colleague, Councilman John Gyllenhammer, also a Republican, was more direct.
“It’s an organization that’s not fully representing cities, in a sense representing the control that cities have in regard to regular zoning ordinances,” Gyllenhammer said Tuesday, referring to Prop 1. “That’s something that’s been an issue for a while.”
Prop 1 is a statewide ballot measure that could see $6.4 billion in bonds issued – aimed at addressing mental health issues and building more housing for homeless people. It could also restructure mental health funding and its earmarks at the county level.
As of Wednesday morning, Prop 1 was narrowly passing by 28,000 votes across the state.
Slater and Dumitru tried pushing their colleagues to remain with the advocacy group so the city could still have input on state legislation.
“I like being on the side of collaboration and cooperation with our other cities and there’s strength in numbers,” Slater said, adding “we’ve already paid our dues for this year and there’s some items that are of paramount importance” like bills regulating group homes.
Dumitru said while he disagreed with the League of Cities’ Board of Directors support for Prop 1, it’s important the city have a voice within the organization.
“I think one of the key takeaways here is I would rather be in the room to be part of the discussion than to be left out of the room and have no input at all,” Dumitru said.
Connor Medina, the regional representative for the League of Cities who has testified to other city councils on the issue, told council members the municipal lobbying organization is supporting a host of bills that would reform how substance abuse treatment and mental health treatment homes are being handled.
[Read: CA State Bill Looks to Give Cities Regulation Over Sober Living Homes]
“I’m here to express that your concerns regarding Proposition 1 have been heard, but I urge the city council to move forward in a collaborative fashion,” Medina said Tuesday night. “We are the only association that’s sponsoring a package of bills on this issue and going to bat with the legislature – saying now is the time to get good policy through.”
He said the bills “are important for Orange to be at the table for,” adding the proposed legislation was “developed in consultation with Orange County cities.”
A Push For More Oversight
A January analysis conducted by Townsend Public Affairs for Mission Viejo found Prop 1 could increase rehab homes in neighborhoods – something OC Grand Jurors found to be a common public nuisance with little oversight.
City officials in Newport Beach have noted there’s very little oversight from the California Department of Health Care services – the agency responsible for regulating the homes.
Department officials haven’t responded to questions from Voice of OC.
Now, a host of bills are being proposed by local state legislators in an effort to scale back the virtually unregulated state-licensed group homes.
Last week, State Sen. Tom Umberg (D-Santa Ana) announced a bill that would give cities regulatory authority over group homes.
Assemblywoman Laurie Davies (R-Laguna Niguel) is pushing a bill that would require licensed drug addiction treatment centers to publicly post state violations online.
Assemblyman Avelino Valencia (D-Anaheim) introduced a bill that would bar unlicensed rehab homes from neighborhoods.
And Assemblymember Diane Dixon (R-Newport Beach) is spearheading a bill that would prohibit substance abuse treatment homes from operating within 300 feet of each other.
Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley, a Democrat, voiced support for the legislative package during Tuesday’s supervisors’ meeting.
Foley, who grappled with group home issues when she was Costa Mesa mayor, said it’s a push “from both sides of the aisle, and they’ve introduced common sense measures on this issue, each of which I enthusiastically support today.”
Echoing what other elected officials have said throughout Orange County, Foley said too many group homes are operating
“These are all necessary because unfortunately, there are plenty of bad actors posing as recovery residencies, and who have had serious negative impacts on patients, on people seeking treatment and recovery and on our communities.”
While the Department of Healthcare Services doesn’t regulate some types of sober living homes – they require them to get licenses if the homes provide 24-hour services to residents.
Dr. Veronica Kelley, Orange County’s health officer, told Foley that local officials rarely see enforcement activities from state officials on licensed drug treatment homes.
“As far as the Department of Health Care Services, sending people out to review a substance use disorder treatment facility, we see them when they do an initial licensing visit. And then that is it. Oftentimes the state will ask the local municipality to act on their behalf and go in and do evaluations or reviews. But we have not seen that here in Orange County.”
Spencer Custodio is the civic editor. You can reach him at scustodio@voiceofoc.org. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerCustodio.
Reporter Hosam Elattar contributed to this story.
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