21.   Aldridge said the county has a dedicated group working on vendor management and cited the example of the staff having contacted Ford Motor about county vehicles.

22.   All three counties have had open burning bans since January, although the state Division of Forestry is issuing permits to burn sugar cane fields.

23.   All three counties have Democratic-controlled governments, and in all three counties, authorities awarded E.A. Moos bond contracts.

24.   All six counties had contracts with the Glenn Dyer Detention Facility in Oakland.

25.   But Ms. Jones said that without the landfill, the county might have had to double or triple the tax rate.

26.   But now the county has a stake in seeing the money repaid.

27.   But now the county has approval to bulldoze some of the growth, removing the greenery that advocates have long fought to preserve.

28.   But Stone said counties would have to submit a mental health plan to the state each year.

29.   But the county has yet to do computerized checks of its own because county officials are unsure if that would violate the county policy on background investigations.

30.   But the county might have to settle for fewer people until it can find the number it needs, elections officials said.