Politics & Government

Reducing Guns, Getting 'Health Care Right' Goals For Santa Clara County

In his State of the County address, Supervisor Ken Yeager focuses on public health and getting 1,239 guns out of the hands of those no longer permitted to have them, as the new president of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors.

 

The president of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors said today he'll focus this year on medical and public health issues and adopting a "comprehensive program" to reduce the number of guns in the county.

Supervisor Ken Yeager, serving for the second time in the largely ceremonial one-year position as board president, also announced that his campaign in 2014 for a third four-year term as a board member would be his last "for any other office."

Find out what's happening in Los Altoswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Yeager, in his State of the County address to about 300 county and city officials and employees, made as his top priority preparing the county for the Affordable Health Care Act that requires Americans to have health insurance as of Jan. 1, 2014.

"We must get it right," Yeager said. "Literally, the lives of tens of thousands of people in our county depend on it."

Find out what's happening in Los Altoswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

While the county has already started planning to implement the health care law, "the challenge of national Health Care Reform requires us to redouble our efforts," the supervisor said.

"We must measurably improve health outcomes, improve client satisfaction and lower the cost of care," Yeager said.

Toward that goal, Yeager wants the county to make sure an estimated 20,000 new low-income county residents receive health care benefits and help people who qualify for the national law's insurance benefit exchanges by 2014.

Since the county will have to deal with state officials about meeting the new U.S. health care regulations, Santa Clara County ought to hire a lobbyist in Sacramento "focused solely on healthcare reform," Yeager said.

Yeager said he supports consolidating the county's departments of Mental Health and Alcohol and Drug Services into one agency called the Behavioral Health Department, since the county now treats mental health and substance abuse as "co-occurring" disorders.

On the issue of gun use policy, Yeager said he will meet with Sheriff Laurie Smith and District Attorney Jeff Rosen "to create a comprehensive program to curb gun violence by reducing the number of guns in our county" through a "no-questions-asked" county program offering cash for guns.

Yeager said that 529 people in the county who are by law no longer permitted to possess guns still own 1,239 guns, including 54 assault rifles, and he pledged to work with Smith "to have these residents surrender their guns."

He also wants to discourage obesity and type 2 diabetes in children by developing policies to decrease consumption of sugary drinks and make sure funds from Measure B, approved by voters in November, are used to install 250 new water fountains at public schools.

Reducing instances of HIV/AIDS and sexually-transmitted diseases is another priority, and Yeager said he will push for a pilot program to offer 500 HIV test kits to the public at no cost and expand it if it is successful.

Yeager also outlined plans to update county building codes to permit installing electrical wiring in new homes and commercial buildings "so that electric vehicle charges can be easily added if owners want them."

To increase composting—using food waste to make organic fertilizer— Yeager would like the county's future trash hauling contracts to include collection of household and commercial food throwaways for composting instead of buried in landfills. Los Altos has had this since 2010.

Yeager added that he is working on training methods with the county Probation Department and county staff "to ensure that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth in our juvenile justice system are treated
with fairness and dignity."

Among his other goals for the 2013, Yeager said he would develop an agenda for senior citizens, improving access to federal services for military veterans and increasing funds for affordable housing.

—Copyright © 2013 by Bay City News, Inc.—Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here