Pursuing call center a good idea

With some reservations, Stanislaus County supervisors voted this week to continue to pursue hosting a health exchange call center starting next year, a project that could mean state and federal funding to hire 250 to 300 workers. We fully understand the caution because the state has a track record of leaving counties with the bill, but this is an opportunity too good to pass up.

As we noted earlier, the lure is full-time jobs with benefits. The potential number has increased from about 140 to 250 or 300, all the more reason the county should submit an application. The turnaround is quick. The state is scheduled to select a site in January, and it is supposed to start operating within several months.

When this possibility surfaced, before the election, Supervisor Jim DeMartini opposed it, arguing the county should only go after private sector jobs. We were glad to see that DeMartini had a change of mind and joined the other four supervisors in agreeing to take the next steps in pursuing the call center.