Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/author/ngerda/)
Nick covers the city of Santa Ana, as well as the County of Orange, often reporting on issues like homelessness, public safety, mental health, and the role of money in politics. Since joining Voice of OC in 2011, Nick has regularly shed light on topics that are often kept in the shadows. He’s reported on systemic problems in the county’s mental health system. He also led a reporting team that produced sophisticated looks at how the Disney corporation campaign contributions influenced recent elections in Anaheim. Nick also revealed evidence of elected leaders using their official powers to apparently pressure government contractors into donating to their election campaigns, in an article that was awarded best news story of the year by the Orange County Press Club. He firmly believes journalism should inform the public and help hold the powerful accountable. An Orange County native, Nick first started covering local government in his mid-teens, before attending Santa Ana College, the American University in Cairo, and UC Irvine, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science. Languages spoken: English, elementary Spanish, minimal Arabic and minimal Japanese Areas of expertise: Local government, local politics, homelessness, mental health policy, campaign finance, California Public Records Act, Ralph M. Brown Act, County of Orange government, Santa Ana city government and municipal finance.
On Tuesday, it was publicly disclosed in Orange County Superior Court that sheriff officials kept a deputy in the field doing investigations months after they learned he made numerous false statements in police reports about evidence booking.
Local prosecutors and public defenders say county supervisors they are destabilizing the justice system by underpaying them.
The records would show what officials knew – and when – about a sheriff’s deputy found to have falsely stated in 74 different reports that he had booked evidence.
A judge will decide whether to unseal records about a deputy who was found to have made false statements about evidence in 74 different reports.
Another 100 shelter beds will be coming online in Placentia on March 19, followed by a further 100 beds in Buena Park in June, officials said.
Residents said the county was moving forward with its Yale St. shelter plans without spreading the burden to south county cities that don’t host any shelters. County officials said the shelter would be an improvement over the existing Courtyard shelter that’s being replaced.
While authorizing new spending this week for the Sheriff’s Department, county supervisors continue to remain silent about mounting revelations of Sheriff’s Department evidence booking misconduct that could weaken thousands of criminal cases.
An ongoing review by prosecutors – as well as court documents – are prompting questions about whether Orange County’s top law enforcement officer has been telling the whole truth.
Andrew Do and Michelle Steel are running this year for what are considered the toughest election races that any of the five supervisors are seeking.
After years of pressure from activists and the courts, Orange County picked up the pace of addressing street homelessness last year, though going into 2020 officials acknowledge the scale of the issue is much larger than current efforts are tackling.