Campaign spending by outside groups is heating up in a handful of critical Orange County races ahead of the June 2 primary election, with millions of dollars of special interest spending in two different Assembly races – both of which are guaranteed to send a new representative to Sacramento.
There’s also one guaranteed new OC Supervisor this election season as incumbent Doug Chaffee terms out while several candidates eye the North OC seat on the OC Board of Supervisors while OC Supervisor Katrina Foley runs for reelection against Assemblywoman Diane Dixon in South OC.
The race for OC Treasurer-Tax Collector is also heating up as incumbent Shari Friedenrich runs for reelection against Dana Schultz – both of whom participated in a Q&A from Voice of OC.
Supervisors Janet Nguyen and Don Wagner are raising questions over just who runs the county government after they took issue with a news release from Foley, announcing the pause in herbicide use countywide – a move they said should’ve been discussed by the OC Board of Supervisors.
It all comes against the backdrop of OC becoming a purple county, with Democrats taking a slight edge in voter registration over Republicans in recent years while nonpartisan voters remain a wild card.
For the first time in years, Orange County’s homeless population reportedly shrank according to the recent federally mandated headcount of the houseless population – yet local officials still aren’t sure exactly how it happened.
Santa Ana’s moving forward with a proposed ordinance barring police officers from moonlighting as ICE agents or other federal immigration officials.
Huntington Beach is on the hook for $50,000 a month until city council members adopt a state-approved housing plan – the result of a yearslong legal battle against Sacramento over California’s housing mandates.
Current and former Huntington Beach elected officials are also being fined by state regulators for allegedly not disclosing tickets they received to the Pacific Airshow – an event that was given what many critics call a lopsided deal to settle a lawsuit when the airshow was shut down early from the 2021 oil spill.
Surf City council members also halted the bidding process for a controversial public relations and rebranding contract – a proposal that drew concerns that one potential contractor was being improperly favored.
Westminster officials banned the recreational sale of whippets in an ongoing trend of cities cracking down on people using nitrous oxide to get high, while still allowing the gas to be used for culinary and medical purposes.
Despite bleak budget projections, Orange’s Hart Park Pool reopened year round after city officials used an outside contractor and cut down projected costs in half.