Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/author/scustodio/page/2/)
Spencer Custodio joined Voice of OC as a full-time reporter covering south Orange County and Fullerton in August 2017. Previously, he worked as one of Voice of OC’s first interns starting in 2010, covering Fullerton and general assignment stories. During his time with Voice of OC, Custodio covered the Joe Felz election night car crash that lead to him being charged with a DUI (the case is ongoing). He also has been covering the Irvine Veteran’s Cemetery, a first for Orange County, that led to a land swap with a developer that divided many veterans and residents. Recently, he covered the sudden resignation of former Laguna Niguel Mayor Jerry Slusiewicz over claims of bullying and intimidation that started when Slusiewicz found a tree trimming contract that was overpaid by $410,000. Custodio graduated from Cal State Fullerton in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism with extensive education in Constitutional law, public policy, economics and international law. He worked as the news editor at the student newspaper, The Daily Titan, during his last semester. Languages spoken: English Areas of expertise: Voter registration and turnout, data analysis, homelessness, Irvine and Fullerton.
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Anaheim city officials are expected to sit down Friday to hammer out a lease by Dec. 31, despite only having three Council meetings left this year and reinstating the current lease 10 months ago to extend the negotiation time.
The Fourth District Court of Appeals has temporarily suspended an OC Superior Court judge’s order barring resident Joshua Ferguson, and the blog he writes for, from publishing secret Fullerton city hall documents. The blog has already published documents shedding light on how former City Manager Joe Felz dodged a potential DUI after drinking and crashing his car in 2016.
Fullerton Resident and blogger Joshua Ferguson gained a national ally in his appeal against an OC Judge’s order barring him and the blog from publishing secret city hall documents after the Reporter’s Committee for Freedom of the Press filed a support document on Ferguon’s appeal, calling the publication gag a Constitutional violation and the city accusations a “brazen misuse” of federal or state hacking laws by the City of Fullerton to target routine newsgathering activities.
The Anaheim City Council minority members will now have a tougher time putting their policy proposals before the full Council after majority members decide they don’t want to hear minority-faction proposals more than once in any six-month period.
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the City of Anaheim officially start stadium talks on Nov. 15. It’s the first meeting this year, despite a team request earlier this year to extend a lease out clause to the end of the year to allow for calm deliberations. Councilmembers have three public meetings left this year to consider any stadium proposal before an out-clause trigger extension expires at the end of the year.
The Anaheim City Council on Tuesday night could further restrict a Councilmember’s ability to speak out on public policy issues by making it tougher to put items on the public agenda. The move comes in the wake of Councilmembers Jose Moreno and Denise Barnes fighting for months to schedule a vote on releasing the Angel Stadium appraisal and along with efforts to create rent control for seniors, both of which were ultimately cut off by the majority.
Joshua Ferguson, is fighting a judge’s decision to bar him and the blog, Friends for Fullerton’s Future, from publishing secret city hall documents.
Despite nearly eight months of seniors lobbying the Anaheim City Council for help, councilmembers this week shelved discussion of a rent control ordinance that could help seniors living at Rancho La Paz Mobile Home Park, who face looming rent increases.
The Anaheim City Council refused to release the Angel Stadium appraisal and a potential public review period of a final deal Tuesday, when Mayor Harry Sidhu terminated any discussion with a procedural move.
The Anaheim City Council could decide to release the stadium appraisal after residents have been in the dark for months on the value of the land and the status of negotiations between the Angels and the city for the public 155-acre stadium. Council members also may consider sunlighting any proposal submitted by the Angels.
