Bright future for San Joaquin
County has made progress on its economy, but pensions, homelessness present major challenges
STOCKTON — San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors Chairman Chuck Winn touted a balanced budget, an improving and more diversified economy, a rapidly growing population and the region’s push to become a major transportation hub in the State of the County address during Tuesday’s board meeting.
Winn also touched on major challenges that the county must address, including soaring pension costs, the rising number of homeless people, uncertainty surrounding health care and the battle to protect vital water resources.
Winn, who represents the 4th District that includes Lodi, mapped out the board’s strategic priorities, which he identified as fiscal responsibility, good governance, public safety and criminal justice, economic development, and protecting water and agriculture.
In terms of the county’s financial outlook, Winn noted that the county was able to pass another balanced budget and develop a long-term strategy to strengthen its pension system and pay down its unfunded liability over the next 10 years.
“This is a significantly and potentially devastating fiscal issue that many governments are facing across the nation,” Winn said.
Winn said the county’s efforts to become a regional hub for economic development and job creation are paying off, with more employment opportunities and more small and large businesses moving into the area.
He said the county’s economy led the state with a 3.9 employment growth rate in 2016, lowering the unemployment rate to a regional low of 7.8 percent. He noted that home ownership was on the rise and more affordable housing options are available to home buyers.
With more than 720,000 residents, Winn added that the county’s population is growing at one of the fastest rates in California.
Winn said one the most exciting developments of the year was the expansion of services and facilities at the Stockton Metropolitan Airport, which included additional passenger flights, as well as terminal and runway improvements that now accommodate four aircraft instead of one.
Winn reported that the San Joaquin Council of Governments is updating its 10-year transit plan and the San Joaquin Regional Transit District, along with other stakeholders, is exploring other services to help residents travel to destinations throughout the county.
Winn also discussed health care and how repealing the Affordable Care Act would affect the county.
If the legislation is repealed, Winn said over 70,000 people in the county could become uninsured and the county could lose $324 million of revenue a year, along with the loss of more than 4,000 jobs.
He said the county is working closely with state and federal governments to ensure that any action will protect the health care interests of all the county’s residents.
Winn said that another priority for the county is to preserve and improve access to quality health and mental health services for veterans. Winn said the county was working on an expansion of veteran programs that would vastly improve services and availability for Central Valley veterans.
Also Tuesday, Winn stressed the importance of public safety in the community. He spoke of the county’s efforts to foster a better relationship between law enforcement and citizens by assigning deputies to specific communities.
Winn said he was proud of the county’s effort to put an end to human trafficking.
“We have one of the most rigorous programs in the state to stop this horrendous yet under reported problem,” he said.
At least 62 children in the county’s child welfare system were identified as commercially sexually exploited victims in 2016 and have received services and support to overcome the trauma and stress that arise from being victimized, Winn said.
During his address, Winn also announced that the board recently approved the construction of a detention and program facility to replace the honor farm. According to Winn, the new facility will provide secure and updated sleeping areas, space for mental health treatment and space to provide programs to reduce recidivism.
He said that the county is making great progress reducing the number of people with mental illnesses in jails, but said there is more work to do to make sure that people with mental illness get the care and treatment that they need.
He mentioned that the county’s homeless population is on the rise, with many homeless people suffering from mental illness. He said the county is putting resources into solving the issue, including creating a task force to create policies and programs to address issues related to homelessness. He noted that there has also been a push for better collaboration among agencies to ensure adequate data collection of the homeless population and adoption of a housing-first model to reduce or eliminate barriers to affordable housing.
Winn also spoke about the county’s effort to preserve water and agriculture resources, saying that protecting the Delta is one of the highest priorities of the county.
According to Winn, since the passage of the Delta Reform Act in 2009, San Joaquin County has participated extensively in policy development regarding local water rights, water quality and quantity, governance, land use and flood management.
He spoke about the abundance of rainfall and the high river flows the region has received this winter, and how the county is maintaining drought restrictions while at the same time declaring a flood emergency.
“We are responding to a series of decisions made by state and federal officials that water policies and programs should be viewed separately when discussing use as opposed to flood control,” Winn said. “That is why the county and 20 other agencies are currently working on the 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act and at the same time responding to the 2017 Central Valley Flood Protection Plan. Although considered separate issues by the Department of Water Resources, they directly relate to each other.”