Peter Hughes, who has held the job for 16 years, oversaw audits that impacted several top Orange County government officials.
Author Archives: Nick Gerda
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.
Posted inGovernment, Top Stories
County’s Human Resources Director Announces Retirement
In an email to his fellow county executives titled “It’s Time,” Human Resources Director Steve Danley said he will be retiring next Friday after 33 years with the county.
Posted inGovernment, News Briefs, Top Stories
Supervisors Postpone Decision on Suspending of Labor Negotiations Law
Just after Tuesday’s closed session, Chairman Todd Spitzer asked his colleagues for a postponement of the item to Aug. 25, and made only one brief comment.
Posted inGovernment, Investigative, Top Stories
Supervisors Relinquish Control Over Internal Audit Office
The unanimous vote also moves management of the county’s fraud hotline from the internal audit office to the County Counsel’s office.
Posted inGovernment, Housing & Homelessness, Santa Ana, Top Stories
Supervisors Lambast County Staff for Lack of Outreach at Civic Center
Sharp words from the dais follow an opinion column in Voice of OC that condemned supervisors for doing little to alleviate suffering among the homeless population.
Posted inGovernment, Health & Wellness, Top Stories
County Home Care Workers Seeking Raise
The workers, who help elderly, blind and disabled people with housework, meal preparation and other daily tasks, want a raise to $10.75 per hour, which is 75 cents above next year’s state minimum wage. Supervisors are noncommittal.
Posted inGovernment, Investigative, News Briefs, Top Stories
Supervisors to Vote on Restructuring Oversight of Internal Auditor
The proposal would also move the management of the county’s fraud hotline from the internal audit office to the County Counsel’s office.
Posted inGovernment, Top Stories
County Supervisors to Vote on Suspending Labor Negotiations Law
County Counsel Leon Page is recommending the law, known as COIN, be suspended in light of a recent state ruling that invalidates parts of the ordinance.
Posted inEducation, Government, Health & Wellness, Huntington Beach, Investigative, Top Stories
School Trustee: County Agency Stonewalling Public on Trash Dump Probe
John Briscoe, who has been the public face of an effort to address problems stemming from a trash dump near a Huntington Beach elementary school, says he was refused the email of the county Health Care Agency’s director.
Posted inGovernment, Investigative, News Briefs, Top Stories
OC Register: Feds Monitoring Jailhouse Informant Scandal
Orange County’s jailhouse informant scandal is drawing the eyes of civil rights attorneys at the U.S. Department of Justice, the Orange County Register reported Thursday.
