Democrats remain on track to hold their majority on the Orange County board of supervisors for the next two years as votes continue to be counted by the county registrar, but they’re confronting a county government with big challenges on the horizon.
As of 5 p.m. Thursday, Democrat and incumbent Supervisor Katrina Foley was in the lead for the Fifth District Supervisor race with nearly 52% of the vote, putting her over 7,600 votes ahead of Republican Assemblywoman Diane Dixon.
In the Fourth District, Buena Park Mayor and Democrat Connor Traut held the lead with nearly 51% of the vote, putting him just over 2,000 votes ahead of Republican Board of Education Trustee Connor Traut in the race for the seat.
Whoever wins those races will be tasked with solving several problems that’ve eluded the county for years.
Supervisors have been searching for their next CEO since the last election, but repeatedly deadlocked over the last two years when it came to picking a long term replacement.
Former CEO Michelle Aguirre warned on her way out the door that the county’s structural imbalance was growing by the tens of millions every year and that county supervisors needed to do something to staunch the bleeding.
Regardless of who wins the election, a majority of county supervisors have also publicly called out the existing budget process as non-transparent and demanded change, a call the county budget staff have not answered when asked by Voice of OC.
Those supervisors are also handling a litany of other issues including the expansion of daily trash headed to a landfill near homes in south Orange County, the ongoing debate over chemical herbicides in creeks and the future of corruption investigations.
Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org.
