Santa Ana leaders seem to be shying away from an in-depth public debate on why police officers fired hundreds of rounds of rubber bullets and threw tear gas at anti-ICE protestors in Orange County’s only sanctuary city.
Author Archives: Hosam Elattar
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC/ Report For America reporter covering Anaheim & North Orange County, food insecurity, housing & homelessness, the Arab & Muslim American community and education.
Elattar started at Voice of OC as an intern in January, 2020 and has covered local food banks’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic, School board debates on how to teach history, the decades long push by Arab American business owners to recognize Little Arabia and a corruption scandal at Anaheim City Hall.
He has won several awards from the OC Press Club including Best News Story, Best Political Story and Best Religion Story.
Elattar is Egyptian American and has lived in Botswana, Nepal, Uganda, The Dominican Republic and India.
Posted inEconomy
Some OC City Officials Eye Cannabis to Bail Out Municipal Budgets
As cities grapple with budget deficits, some leaders in two separate college towns are more open to exploring legalizing and taxing cannabis retail stores to bring in new revenue than others.
Posted inOrange
Orange Expected to Defer Millions in Infrastructure Repairs Amid Budget Crisis
City of Orange officials are continuing to grapple with curbing a long time structural deficit and are expected to postpone making repairs to a couple of fire stations and city hall.
Posted inSanta Ana
Santa Ana Faces $19 Million Budget Deficit if Cuts Aren’t Made
Santa Ana officials will have to make a host of cuts to programs and services to quell an expected $19 million deficit years before their sales tax increase is set to start to expire.
Posted inSanta Ana
Santa Ana Strips Cesar Chavez From Local Landmarks After Sexual Abuse Allegations
City officials are the latest in Santa Ana to expunge disgraced labor rights leader Cesar Chavez’s name and imagery from a park, public art and from a paid holiday.
Posted inEconomy
Fullerton Plays Hot Potato With Budget Crisis
While city leaders admit they knew about the problem for years, different leaders blamed one another for the city’s current economic straits as the deputy city manager said staff repeatedly warned them of the issue.
Posted inOrange
Orange to Again Ask Voters for a Sales Tax Increase to Save Budget
Orange residents are joining a growing contingency of OC voters likely to vote on a tax measure this November as more city leaders look to their constituents to bolster their budgets.
Posted inSanta Ana
Will Santa Ana Revive Sales Tax Measure or Make Budget Cuts?
Santa Ana residents might be joining a growing contingent of Orange County voters expected to weigh in on a tax measure in the upcoming election.
Posted inSanta Ana
Orange County Reckons With Cesar Chavez Landmarks Following Sexual Assault Allegations
Elected officials across Santa Ana and Anaheim are moving to formally remove landmarks, resolutions and murals in honor of Cesar Chavez following sexual assault allegations against the deceased labor leader.
Posted inFullerton
How Cooked is Fullerton’s Budget?
City leaders are now wrestling with how they’re going to balance their budget after they learned officials misallocated over $10 million in their reserves – leading to potential spending cuts.
