Community to Board of Supervisors:
"Save Our Safety Net!"
May 12, 2009
Workers and community members from Santa Clara County rallied on Tuesday, May 12, to urge the Board of Supervisors to preserve critical county services by not laying off nurses, mental health counselors, and social services workers.
Chanting, "Cough up some dough or your health is gonna go," and "Don't nickel and dime, let's fight the swine!" the crowd of about 100 people, consisting of members from SEIU Local 521, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Momentum for Mental Health, and other non-profit organizations, gathered just before county officials met for a budget workshop.
"We are translators and community workers who link the community with county services," said Rosemary Romo, a Public Health Assistant. "How many administrators are going to sit down and talk with clients who have a mental illness? How many administrators can speak the diverse languages of this community? If we need to cut, start cutting from the top."
Santa Clara County faces a $273 million budget deficit and might start the 2009-10 fiscal year with 158 fewer jobs than last year. Some 340 county workers will be affected, either by losing their job, having their job changed, or working reduced hours. Coming on top of almost $500 million in budget reductions over the past seven years, the proposed cuts pose imminent risks to the viability of the county's overall public health care system.
"What is this all about? It's not only the swine flu," said Velia Esquivel-Ferguson, Public Health Nurse II. "It's anything else that comes through. It stops with us out there, doing our jobs, being the legs for this community."