Here is another roundup of some of the most thought-provoking reader comments of the week. Comments are selected by our editors and subject to editing for grammar, spelling, clarity and length.

Click on each topic’s headline to see the article in question.

Harsh Criticism for Janet Nguyen

Has everyone lost their memory or their mind? The Board of Supervisors completely distanced themselves from everything that was going on with CalOptima and allowed [Supervisor] Janet [Nguyen] free reign.

Hire a social worker to straighten things out? This is insane. It took years to design and manage a well-run, absolutely compliant agency that was a star in this state. These issues of noncompliance are major and extremely serious and illustrate that absolute, incompetent fools have been allowed to place thousands of lives in jeopardy.

Say it like it is: The Board of Supervisors haven’t cared about their constituents or $1.4 billion in taxpayer dollars and have additionally allowed Janet to pack another CalOptima board with people who she controls.

There is no excuse for any of this.

— Roslyn

“The issues regarding Janet on that board are totally political,” [Supervisor Pat] Bates said. Not correct. The issue of her appointment to run the CalOptima show was totally political and it backfired badly. Attacking the grand jury was evidence of institutional denial.

It’s sort of funny and yet sad that people with the title “Supervisor” never take responsibility for the things they are supposed to be supervising.

— David Zenger

Nguyen as ‘Local Elected Official of the Year’

The OC GOP has made a strategic error in this “recognition” of Supervisor Nguyen. There is too much in question about the supervisor and the current investigations. And how can you ignore the internal county and CalOptima concerns by the rank and file about her?

The downward spiral of the GOP continues.

— General

Clearly the GOP is trying to impact the state’s Democratic supermajority by getting Janet into Lou Correa”s seat, but they must’ve held their noses on this one.

Cal Optima aside, I can’t think of a single issue that she has championed to garner this type of recognition.

— Don Draper

Hard-Line Negotiations With Sheriff’s Deputies

Unfortunately, crime rates will rise astronomically because of a lack of experienced deputies or a lack of deputies at all in patrol. Even with a 16% pay cut, taxpayers will foot an even more expensive bill than now to pay for the unlimited overtime whatever deputies are left will be working to sustain department operations.

Every [police] agency, with exception of Irvine, Santa Ana, and Westminster, are actively hiring. That is per the California POST website law enforcement officer jobs listings.

Most start at or above $100,000 a year, but many like myself are reluctant to lateral transfer just yet, because seniority would be lost and we would have to start from the bottom.

If the cuts are imposed, those agencies won’t be hiring anymore, because they would receive 1,300 applications overnight from Orange County Sheriff’s Department deputies.

— All American

Union Rejects County’s ‘Final’ Offer

Immediately after the grand jury issued its report about the corruption in Orange County government, the Board [of Supervisors] tried to cut thier pay to silence them.

It should be no surprise that after the union has been so vocal about the corruption on the Board of Supervisors, the board would use the same tactics. Three of these corrupt board members are running for office. The only way they can hope to shut the union up is threaten and intimidate them.

I know none of us like these unions, but for once their fight against corruption is helping all of us. If they keep it up they may finally regain the respect of the public.

— Truevoice

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Here is another roundup of some of the most thought-provoking reader comments of the week. Comments are selected by our editors and subject to editing for grammar, spelling, clarity and length.

Click on each topic’s headline to see the article in question.

GOP Central Committee Puts Kring on the Grill

Bottom line here is if [Anaheim Councilwoman] Lucille Kring made pledges to the voters during her campaign, she should forget the mealy-mouth rationalizations of why she changed her mind and support the platform upon which she ran.

At the same time, if she thinks she can do a better job as mayor than the current office holder, [Tom] Tait, she should challenge him, present the issues and outline how she would deal with them if elected.

Let the voters decide. Isn’t that how the system is supposed to work anyway? Sorry, but I don’t like the “good ol’ boy” network calling the shots and pulling the strings.

— Ltpar1

I agree with LtPar on this one. The majority of residents are not in a party central committee. They should decide, not the party.

— KenCoop

County’s Expensive Labor Negotiator

It’s obvious that [Supervisor John] Moorlach’s plan to pay a private attorney, Bruce Barsook, $350 an hour to negotiate with county employees and their unions didn’t work.

For the past 18 months, Barsook has made over $1 million and taken two European vacations. What would really make him want to come to an agreement in a reasonable amount of time?

Nothing.

— Bohica

Wow, a million smackers to just say “no” to everything. Shoot, I would have done that for a lot less.

— IsthereReason

They say that in the end the only ones who have any money left are the lawyers, and now I see why.

We have people like Moorlach signing off on Barsook’s trip to Europe and his kids’ Ivy League educations. Why not give that “extra money” (which they claimed not to have) to the employees?

— Swedish chef

A million bucks given to employees would add up to literally pennies per pay period. The problem is it would be a million a year forever.

— Smith2

Keep Acquitted Cops Off the Force?

Other cities have workable commissions to oversee their police forces. [Fullerton Councilwoman] Jan Flory is hiding behind POBAR [Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights] to keep Fullerton residents from having control of their own police force, who can beat a man into brain death in the streets and not face consequences.

None of the three fired officers will ever work for the Fullerton PD again. Insisting that [Police Chief Dan] Hughes not hire them back is a red herring. The real issue is having access to complaints against problem officers to ensure that nobody else loses a life to them.

A proper police commission could accomplish that goal.

— Fullerton Rag

The Thomas Case and Laura’s Law

Ah, stop it. Laura’s Law had nothing to do with Kelly’s death. Laura’s Law, or a lack thereof, didn’t kill Kelly;  six big cops killed Kelly. They held him down and broke the bones in his face by assaulting him with a Taser gun (and laughing about it afterwards).

You can’t remove somebody from the street for not conforming to your standards of personal hygiene or appearance. Laura’s Law doesn’t have that power.

Kelly was no danger to himself or anyone else on the night of his death. He committed no crime. He had no drugs or alcohol in his system. He was a pedestrian minding his own business when confronted by the vicious cops who proceeded to taunt him, then eventually beat him senseless and into a coma.

— Beelzebub

Since you've made it this far,

You are obviously connected to your community and value good journalism. As an independent and local nonprofit, our news is accessible to all, regardless of what they can afford. Our newsroom centers on Orange County’s civic and cultural life, not ad-driven clickbait. Our reporters hold powerful interests accountable to protect your quality of life. But it’s not free to produce. It depends on donors like you.

Make a tax-deductible donation

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Join the conversation: In lieu of comments, we encourage readers to engage with us across a variety of mediums. Join our Facebook discussion. Message us via our website or staff page. Send us a secure tip. Share your thoughts in a community opinion piece.

Here is another roundup of some of the most thought-provoking reader comments of the week. Comments are selected by our editors and subject to editing for grammar, spelling, clarity and length.

Click on each topic’s headline to see the article in question.

Was It Assault?

Negotiations can get heated and sometimes a bit rough. It is not a tea party. I do not excuse Nick’s behavior. However, a skilled negotiator would have walked out rather than get thrown out.

It sure sounds like the meeting got way out of hand with both sides doing their fair share of childish behavior. Good grief, the negotiator did smirk and taunt Nick, and Nick did what he had done for 30 years: He blew up and acted like a jerk. The negotiator just pushed his hot button fully knowing the predictable reaction. So, in my opinion, both parties contributed to a very foolish situation.

It is a stage, and Nick was just playing his role. He puffs and huffs and uses bad words. If the county negotiator can’t ignore or diffuse it, maybe they are not up for the job.

Not to say that Nick’s behavior was OK, but the negotiator should have been more perceptive and not aggravated the situation.

— Insider2

Insider2, just for discussion purposes let’s imagine [county Supervisor John] Moorlach did what [union leader Nick] Berardino was reported to have done. Would you assert, “It is a stage, and John was just playing his role”?. Would you assert, “If the union negotiator can’t ignore or diffuse, it may be they are not up for the job”? Would you assert, “Not to say that John’s behavior was OK, but the union negotiator should have been more perceptive and not aggravated the situation’?

Or would you want Moorlach’s head on a platter?

You know as well as I do that if Moorlach pulled the same reported stunt that Berardino pulled, these Voice of OC discussion boards would be lit up like a Christmas tree calling for his head.

I am just pointing out the double standards that I observe on discussion boards all the time. The hypocrisy is over the top.

— Beelzebub

I think this little passion play may be chalked up to election year politicking. Nick is combative but not scary. Agreed. Nick is not someone the average or reasonable person would be in fear of, especially when viewing his less than spectacular physical appearance. Octomom could probably take Nick down.

— Rex The Wonder Dog

Obviously the sheriff’s officials present were certain there was no real problem and that no crime had been committed. Otherwise they would have brought the Santa Ana police in then. This smells like the county trumping up a nonevent to try to get the public’s mind off what it’s really doing to its workers, which is cramming an election year lump of coal down their throats.

— Lostinspace

Yeah, I am no Nick Berardino apologist, but this smells to high heaven to me. If he was a danger to others in full view of law enforcement, the appropriate response would be his immediate arrest.

Give me a break, they want to negotiate a union deal in the media by mudslinging each other.

Time for the whole thing to gain much more maturity, please. Show us both sides are grown up enough to run our county and get us through these tough times, because confidence is crumpling faster than than paper Berardino supposedly balled up.

— Cynthia Ward

The Angels Stadium Deal

Well, here’s the play. [Angels owner Arte] Moreno develops the land, extracts all the value, makes a giant load of money. When 2036 rolls around, Moreno moves the team anyway.

He gets to keep the 155 acres, which include the publicly owned theater and train station, and pockets all the revenue. He enjoys life on a sunny beach somewhere courtesy of the public dollar.

Meanwhile in Anaheim, residents are stuck with a vacant, dilapidated stadium that hasn’t had any serious capital investment since 1996, since there’s no requirement to improve the existing property in any document put forward to the public since the approval of the MOU [memorandum of understanding]; zero to little tax revenue on the surrounding 155 acres, since it was given away via “economic assistance” per the MOU; and the inability to re-purpose the existing, already developed property or attract another tenant, because there’s nothing left to give away.

Sounds solid. Real solid. Solid like rock.

— Ryan Cantor

Controverial Development in Orange

The Rio Santiago project is a line in the sand for the residents of Orange Park Acres. The project makes no sense, is completely incompatible with the neighborhood, has no public benefits, has a long list of unmitigated consequences, including the developer wants a zoning change, pure and simple.

The management of the city of Orange and the county of Orange made a solemn oath 40 years ago to protect the lifestyles of Orange Park Acres. That oath was broken with the Ridgeline project decisions. The social contract has been broken once and for all.

The Rio Santiago project is our line in the sand. It’s time for the residents of Orange Park Acres to protect themselves and their beloved lifestyles. No bureaucrats in city or county office appreciate the uniqueness of the community and never will.

Residents of Orange Park Acres, take control of your own destinies.

— FreedomLover

You really don’t need to look any further than the fact that this developer is having to amend so many long-range plans and make so many zoning changes to conclude that this project simply does not fit the community.

Land use laws exist to protect everyone’s property rights, not just developers’. Something should be done with the property, but high-density housing, a farce of open space, and pushing 50 acres of undevelopable, contaminated creek land onto the public in the guise of a “gift” is not it.

Our city must not let one developer toss aside decades of wise planning with one very unwise development.

— Nachbar

Effects of the Thomas Verdict

The mental health training needed is for how the public should now deal with officers who, while just talking to you, allow their emotions to skyrocket into saying, “Now, you see my fists? They’re getting ready to f**k you up.”

What response can you make to that? What is going to calm them when they are bent on your destruction?

— SilverSanti99

Since you've made it this far,

You are obviously connected to your community and value good journalism. As an independent and local nonprofit, our news is accessible to all, regardless of what they can afford. Our newsroom centers on Orange County’s civic and cultural life, not ad-driven clickbait. Our reporters hold powerful interests accountable to protect your quality of life. But it’s not free to produce. It depends on donors like you.

Make a tax-deductible donation

About Voice of OC: Mission | Editorial Policies | Contact Us | Funding | Privacy Policy

Join the conversation: In lieu of comments, we encourage readers to engage with us across a variety of mediums. Join our Facebook discussion. Message us via our website or staff page. Send us a secure tip. Share your thoughts in a community opinion piece.