A report card on inequalities

Elia Powers

Orange County is rife with inequality -- healthcare coverage, the

housing and job markets -- a panel of four speakers told an audience

of more than 50 on Thursday evening at UC Irvine.

Echoing a theme that John Edwards made a centerpiece of his

vice-presidential campaign last fall, the lecturers referred to a

widening gap between the “haves” and the “have-nots.” Their

discussion focused on Orange County, a region that they agreed hardly

resembles the one portrayed on television.

“We’re trying to fill out the picture of Orange County and dispel

myths,” said Marlon Boarnet, a UC Irvine professor and chair of the

Department of Planning, Policy and Design.

The panelists spoke as part of “The Changing Face of Orange

County” series organized by the Community Outreach Partnership

Center, an independent group within UC Irvine’s School of Social

Ecology.

The event, called Orange County in 2005: A Report Card on Growing

Inequality, was intended to provide the community with a better

understanding of social and economic disparities, said Kristen Day,

the partnership center’s executive director.

Boarnet flashed statistics showing that, compared to other major

metropolitan areas, Orange County is on the lower end of the per

capita income chart.

He said cities such as Newport Beach give outsiders a false

picture of the county’s economic reality.

“This is not the economic juggernaut we think it is,” Boarnet

said.

He pointed to an emergence of two economies: one filled with jobs

in the high-tech sector and another that is dominated by

service-industry work.

UCI Professor Victoria Basolo showed the audience a map of the

county divided in half. She said residents who accept housing

vouchers are disproportionally concentrated in the north part of the

county.

And only 11% of Orange County residents can afford to buy a

median-priced home, according to Pamela Austin, chief executive

officer of Orange County Health Needs Assessment. Those figures came

out of a survey released by the organization on Wednesday.

Leo Chavez, a professor of anthropology and director of

Chicano/Latino Studies at UC Irvine, said he’s seen the demographics

change and inequalities increase since he moved to Orange County in

the 1950s.

He pointed to the growth of the Latino population -- now about 30%

of the county’s residents -- as one of the most significant stories

of the past few decades.

And Chavez said he is concerned about the perception that Latino

growth is dangerous to the region’s future.

While almost one in five Latino families in Orange County are

living in what he classified as conditions of poverty, they are the

least likely group to take advantage of government-assistance

programs, Chavez said.

Latinos are one of the most consistently employed ethnic groups,

he added.

“So often, those who experience the most inequality are those who

contribute the most,” Chavez said.