Meet your OCEA Board members By Niyaz Pirani
Frank Eley
Q:
Since this is our last issue of OCEA Employee for the year, can you tell us what you think OCEA’s biggest accomplishment was in 2011?
Business Analyst, Orange County Public Works OCEA member since 1982 OCEA Board member since 1985
A:
Q: Why did you become an OCEA Board member, and what makes you want to serve the membership in this capacity?
A:
When I first began working for the County, my cubicle was next to Jim Baker, then vice president of OCEA. Jim was instrumental in educating me about how great OCEA is. He said that was no accident: “Good people have to come forward—staff does 100 percent of their part; we have to do our part.” I like serving the membership because I believe the greatest value of a person is not in admiring all they have, what they’re going to buy or what title they have. I believe the greatest value of a person comes from helping to make things better for all of us.
Q:
OCEA celebrates unity and solidarity. Why do you feel it is important to stay together, and how can OCEA members accomplish this?
A:
The U.S. is going through great turmoil right now. Government employees find themselves under attack from every side by disingenuous political opportunists, and we all need to stick together so we can get through this. In 6 or 7 years, the economy will go bonkers over the “next big thing,” and in the long run government pay and benefits will look tame and even somewhat lacking again. To get to the long run, we have to get through the short run, and the only way to do that is to support OCEA with your actual time and effort. Everyone should be a member and everyone should participate in at least one OCEA event in 2012.
By far, the incredible job OCEA has done fighting back the wholesale, ill-conceived privatization and illegal layoffs of the Costa Mesa City employees. Do you realize the original layoff date for those employees has already come and gone? OCEA fought to get a temporary restraining order and won. OCEA showed that the backroom deals to sell out City jobs were done illegally, outside of the Government Code. OCEA paid to have a third-party forensic auditor come in and prove the city’s finances weren’t devastated. Instead, the audit showed the Council increased and padded other lines of the budget to create the illusion of a dramatic shortfall. OCEA staff and volunteers worked thousands of hours blanketing Costa Mesa with lawn signs and garnered tremendous support for our grassroots campaign in support of city workers
Q:
What are the biggest challenges for OCEA members in the coming year, and how can we best tackle those challenges together?
A:
Some seek to bring that Costa Mesa toxicity to our shores. It’s a shame, because so many great people at the County are doing a great job—better than any outside company would for the constituents of Orange County. The only thing we can do to tackle these upcoming challenges is to continue to do a good job and continue to support OCEA. Come out and show your support when asked. After all, it’s only our jobs and our families’ future.
Reminder! Ballots are due for 2011 Board of Directors election by Dec. 9. 22
OCEA EMPLOYEE
Ballots are due Dec. 9 for the 2011 Board of Directors election