County streamlines to pay for social services

County Supervisor Greg Cox said during his annual State of Bonita address on July 15 that the county intends to spend nearly 40 percent of its $4.96 billion budget for 2010-11 on health and human services in the coming fiscal year.

Cox said that despite budget problems, the county will offer social services by eliminating programs that were inefficient or by combining existing operations such as the county’s Operations Center with the Medical Examiner Forensic Center.

The Kearny Mesa-based facility also offers an expanded toxicology lab and classroom and electronic touch-screens at exam stations to better manage cases.

Cox also said that in April the Board of Supervisors directed the county’s chief administrative officer to conduct a feasibility study to close Proctor Valley Road in order to enhance public access to the Bonita Meadows Open Space Preserve, which was purchased by Caltrans.

If the road closure and funding is approved, it will take about five months to complete.

He said the Bayshore Bikeway Project has received funding from the Neighborhood Reinvestment Project, which puts money back into community organizations such as the Bonitafest Melodrama and neighborhood reinvestment funds like parks, trails and libraries.

Cox added that in September the county will open a Chula Vista veteran’s center which will help veterans who have returned from combat settle back into civilian life.