SAN JOSE, CA - For 12 years, Lydia Torres, a rehabilitation counselor, fielded phone calls from distraught families and uncertain police officers. A son is high on unknown drugs and behaving dangerously; a routine traffic stop brings in a troubled motorist needing assessment.

But now, Torres's work for Santa Clara County is being deleted. In fact, said Torres, Our entire department is being deleted.

About 100 county workers this week are getting layoff notices; their jobs will not exist in the coming fiscal year. Luckily, Torres will still have a job. She just won't be doing what she's been doing.

The job cuts are coming even as SEIU Local 521 members of the Santa Clara County Chapter recently approved extending their contracts for another two years, with no wage increase. 

It is going to be harder for clients to get help from a live person, Torres said. The help-line will exist but it won't be a real assessment. It will be done by clerical staff asking very basic questions.

A county renown for its public services is drastically downsizing to combat a $270 million budget deficit and the casualties are many: health and hospital workers, public health nurses, mental health workers and more. Few departments are untouched. The District Attorney's office is losing legal clerks and investigators. Registrar of Voters will have fewer election technicians. The Department of Alcohol and Drug Services is letting go of counselors.

This week's defeat at the ballot of five measures was not about Californians rejecting taxes; it was about voters rejecting false solutions to real problems. Poll after poll shows Californians oppose cuts to education, healthcare and social services.

Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors should listen to the real message being sent by voters when they begin budget hearings next month: Show real leadership and protect public services.