Condolences to the Orange County Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 2076 and Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice. Together they organized a media stunt at noon today outside the Orange County Hall of Administration.
Eligibility workers who were among the 69 to receive layoff notices on Jan. 5 — they were also among 200 county Social Services Agency employees pink slipped that day — were to speak during lunchtime on their last day on the job. Concerned community members, faith leaders, and labor supporters who'd describe the critical role of county Social Services and the impact cuts will have on Orange County's most vulnerable residents were set to join them.
So did this sobering event happen? Who the hell knows? Like the rest of the Southern California media, the Weekly was glued to the action opposite Civic Center Plaza, outside the federal courthouse, where ex-Sheriff Mike Carona was skipping on most of the corruption counts against him, although he is still a convicted felon.
Hopefully, Carona's life won't now spin so out of control that he'll require the services of an eligibility worker, 'cause . . . you know . . .
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.