City officials say they need the extra $63 million to maintain existing service levels and fix aging infrastructure. Most of the increase apparently would go toward maintaining existing services and the pension cost increases for the existing workforce and retirees.
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 inCountywide, Dana Point, Government, Top Stories
Supervisors OK Dana Point Harbor Overhaul; Harbor Patrol Could Drain Countywide Park Funds
The long-awaited revitalization of Dana Point Harbor, two decades in the making, will move forward after Orange County supervisors Tuesday approved a 66-year lease agreement to develop the Harbor through a public-private partnership.
Posted inDana Point, Government, Top Stories
Finances Unclear as Supervisors Decide on $1 Billion-Plus Dana Point Harbor Overhaul
Orange County supervisors Tuesday are poised to vote on a $1 billion-plus public-private revitalization project for Dana Point Harbor, although officials have so far declined to specify how much of the county’s $1.2 billion in projected harbor costs are expected to be paid out of park funds meant for the entire county.
Posted inFountain Valley, Garden Grove, Government, Investigative, Politics & Elections, Santa Ana, Top Stories, Westminster
State Will Not Pursue Enforcement Over Do’s 1.2 Million Taxpayer-Funded Mailers
Do’s mailers to voters in his district later prompted the state Legislature to ban local governments from sending out government-funded mailers featuring elected officials within 60 days of an election.
Posted inAnaheim, Government, Safety, Security & Justice, Top Stories
New $3.6 Million Sheriff’s Surveillance Plane Approved Without Discussion
Orange County supervisors voted without discussion and in less time than it took to read the agenda’s one sentence summary, to buy a $3.6 million surveillance plane for the Sheriff’s Department.
Posted inCountywide, Government, Investigative, Top Stories
Supervisors Start Taking Control of County’s Financial Checks and Balances
The supervisors’ most immediate action was to take control of the county’s internal auditors, who are supposed to function as watchdogs against fraud in county departments and currently report to the county’s independently-elected auditor-controller, Eric Woolery.
Posted inAnaheim, Countywide, Government, Irvine, Top Stories
Supervisors’ Vets Cemetery Policy Discussion Must Be Public, Experts Say
Orange County supervisors were planning to privately discuss Tuesday whether to explore using county-owned land for a veterans cemetery, but changed their agenda after Voice of OC questioned its legality.
Posted inAliso Viejo, Anaheim, Brea, Buena Park, Costa Mesa, Countywide, Cypress, Dana Point, Fountain Valley, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Government, Huntington Beach, Irvine, La Habra, La Palma, Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Woods, Lake Forest, Los Alamitos, Mission Viejo, Newport Beach, Orange, Placentia, Politics & Elections, Rancho Santa Margarita, Safety, Security & Justice, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, Santa Ana, Seal Beach, Stanton, Top Stories, Tustin, Villa Park, Westminster, Yorba Linda
Final Results For OC’s Highest-Turnout Midterm Primary in More Than Three Decades
The election saw OC voters eliminating the Democrats’ supermajority in the state Senate; setting up competitive runoff elections for four Republican-held congressional districts and 4th District county supervisor; and delivering the first runoff elections for district attorney and sheriff in more than a quarter century.
Posted inEconomy, Safety, Security & Justice, Santa Ana, Top Stories
Santa Ana Upside-Down By $10 Million in New Fiscal Year; Council Seeks Sales Tax Increase
Most of the council moved toward placing a sales tax increase on the November ballot, but didn’t explain what the tens of millions of extra dollars would be used for.
Posted inBrea, Countywide, Government, Investigative, Irvine, San Juan Capistrano, Top Stories, Transportation, Water, Power & Waste
Grand Jury Warns Against Closing Any OC Landfills
All three county landfills should stay open, the panel said, to prevent costs from increasing and additional traffic congestion in communities near still-operating garbage dumps.
