JOHN M. W. MOORLACH -- Community Commentary

It was with some disappointment and amusement that I read the Newport

Harbor Area Chamber of Commerce endorsement ad that appeared in the Daily

Pilot. With the typos and incorrect information, one wonders about the

credibility of any of their endorsements.

Most disconcerting are the observations on Measures G and H.

1. The advertisement states it “gives county supervisors freedom to

alter use of funding after one year.”

Not true.

The supervisors have no say in the matter. Measure G is the only

measure dealing with tobacco settlement revenues that provides for

oversight and flexibility.

Once each year, the oversight committee can modify the percentages

where funds are being allocated in case the needs have changed. The five

representatives of this committee are the auditor-controller, the Orange

County Medical Assn., the Grand Jury Assn., the League of Cities and the

Orange County Emergency Medical Care Committee.

It takes a four-fifths vote and approval by the head of the Orange

County Health Care Agency Department to change the allocation.

Measure H just pays under the prescribed allocations, whether the

doctors need it or not. Measure H is a money grab. At least Measure G

attempts to meet the real needs in our community.

2. The ad says Measure H “allocates all tobacco settlement revenues to

health care services.”

Wrong, again. Twenty percent is allocated to public safety. But let’s

dig deeper. State Sen. Joe Dunn (D-Santa Ana) recently admitted in a

published account that “reimbursements [to hospitals and doctors for

existing programs -- not new or expanded care for the needy] could eat up

the majority of the money.”

So much for “all” to health care.

Most businessmen would rather pay down their own debts before giving

their money away to a special interest group.

In the next election cycle, let’s hope that the chamber takes a

businesslike approach and reads the fine print, thus coming to more

business-minded recommendations.

* JOHN M. W. MOORLACH is Orange County’s treasurer-tax collector and a

resident of Costa Mesa.