A recent Community Opinion showed that serious problems are dogging Orange County government. County administrators would like you to believe that Andrew Do was just one bad apple. Don’t believe it. He had a lot of help. Why did no one blow the whistle? Why was the OC “fraud hotline” useless?
The county’s problems are systemic and top-down, from the CEO office to department heads. Some of the disgraced officials, like deputy CEO Lilly Simmering, already left but others, like Dylan Wright of OC Community Resources, are still wielding authority. Let’s look at some examples of mismanagement in OC government.
No sense of priorities, blind to big risks.
The county CEO has a Risk Management office that “preserves and protects the human and capital assets of the County”. Supposedly.
Did this office do anything to stop OC Public Works from sending crews out to use heavy equipment in a dry scrubby area, on a hot windy day? OC’s Airport fire is the only fire of the last year with the distinction that a county agency directly caused it. By the grace of god and the efforts of firefighters we were spared the inferno LA experienced.
Meanwhile, the county animal shelter is blocking volunteers from walking dogs on the empty sidewalks around the facility, citing “safety” concerns. It seems that the Risk office is so busy protecting empty sidewalks that it didn’t bother to stop county crews from sparking wildfires. Taxpayers are now on the hook for $400 million in claims.
Action: The Risk office should prioritize major risks to the community and county finances, and stop wasting its time micromanaging operations.
Is the bureaucracy distancing itself from the community?
County administration built itself a cluster of high-rise buildings at a cost of $400,000,000. These ivory towers insulate the county’s upper echelons from the ordinary citizens who footed the bill.
Going to most city halls is a breeze; you park in a free lot and walk in. Trying to meet with top county bureaucrats is an ordeal. You have no idea where to park. You wait to be escorted to the elevator. You have to go ask for the combination to use the locked bathrooms.
Is the county discouraging citizens from interacting with its managers? That is certainly the end result. The bureaucrats see a lot of each other and very little of the community.
Action: The overgrown county administration needs to slim down and get closer to the community. Let’s cover a portion of the $400,000,000 in fire claims by selling off one of these ivory towers.
Are “plans” used as a substitute for actual service?
An animal care strategic plan. A climate change plan. A long-range transportation plan. The county is giddy with them. But if you ask for good service, if you ask for the county to follow its own plans, the bureaucracy stalls and resists. If you persist, the county tries another delaying tactic: A slow-grinding process to cobble together a redundant “new plan”. More red tape, no tangible benefit.
In 2016-2018, the animal shelter was under scrutiny. Frank Kim and Dylan Wright oversaw the development of a Strategic Plan… but when attention faded they proceeded to abandon it. In 2023, with renewed public attention on the shelter, their response was that the county needs to develop a “new” Strategic Plan. But there’s nothing wrong with the existing plan. The county just needs to put it to work.
Action: All county plans voted by the Board of Supervisors should mandate regular, itemized reporting on goals and metrics. Quarterly at first, then annual, through the life of the plan.
The county PR machine is a waste of taxpayer dollars.
County Supervisors send year-end messages. A realistic 2024 message should be: “We didn’t do well in 2024. We’ll work on fixing the problems. We’ll try to do better.”
Instead, Vice-Chairman Katrina Foley produced a pompous 2024 account as if this was the best year in the county’s history. “Hired permanent director of OC Animal Care” says Foley… without a word about this director’s lack of qualifications and weird behavior. But over-the-top PR can’t make up for unqualified managers and bad policies at the animal shelter.
Action: Zero out the budget for all this glossy PR that uses taxpayer money for self-promotion.
Instead of pretending these problems don’t exist, county leaders should chart a course to address them. There are voices for accountability on the current board. Janet Nguyen and Vicente Sarmiento have been vocal about stamping out corruption, restoring transparency, and putting the county government in service to the citizens. The rest of the board should join them.
Karen Vaughn is a long time resident of Anaheim Hills and likes to keep an eye on local government agencies.
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