County Throne

Why Cities and the State Are Sending Their Problems, and Power, to Counties

Two important power shifts are taking place in California. Power is shifting up from the cities, and power is shifting down from the state government in Sacramento. In both shifts, the destination of that new power is the same:

County government.

Consider Orange County, where I live and work. The first shift can be seen in Santa Ana, where the city council is widely expected to disband its fire department and turn its firefighting responsibilities over to the county’s fire authority.

This is a turning point in local government.

Santa Ana is Orange …