It is also true that most services funded by the County are mandated. […] But the laws that mandate these services do not mandate how much the County has to spend on them.
Author Archives: Thomas Fielder
Posted inCommunity Opinion
Fielder: Letter of Serious Concern about the 2025-26 proposed OC Budget
[T]he county spends only $0.52 per OC resident of its own $1.2+Billion (NCC) discretionary money on housing, compared to over $113 per OC resident for the Sheriff’s Department and jails.
Posted inCommunity Opinion
Fielder: Supervisor Foley, We Need To Talk
In one of the richest counties in California, we should be able to build permanent supportive housing at a rate faster than that at which unhoused people are dying. Orange County can and must do better, and it starts with the Board of Supervisors.
Posted inCommunity Opinion
Fielder: Did Anaheim’s Sale of Angels Stadium Property Violate the Brown Act?
When did the council discuss the relative merits of selling versus leasing and when was the decision made to sell?
Posted inCommunity Opinion
Fielder: Housing Costs and Wage Stagnation, Not Drugs, are the Main Causes of Homelessness
The only truly effective approach to ending homelessness is to rapidly produce housing that everyone can afford, in sufficient quantity to house everyone, including those who will lose their homes in the future.
Posted inCommunity Opinion
Fielder: Behind the Scenes, Volunteers Helping OC’s Unhoused
The prevalence of people who lack a home and live on the streets of Orange County is nearly impossible to ignore[…]. This is a story about some of the individuals and organizations who are volunteering their time and efforts to help unhoused folks and pressure the county’s leaders to ensure an adequate supply of affordable housing.
Posted inCommunity Opinion
Fielder: Advocates Alone Cannot End Homelessness
It’s strange how this is thought to be the ultimate test of a “true” homeless advocate, and the ultimate solution to homelessness – the challenge to take a stranger … into your home and rehabilitate them.
Posted inCommunity Opinion
Fielder: OC Supervisors Spread Falsehoods About COVID-19 Risks
In his opening remarks at a CSUF symposium, Supervisor Doug Chaffee claimed COVID-19 was no more lethal than the flu. All available evidence indicates it is at least 20 times deadlier. The next day, Supervisor Andrew Do dismissed a peer-reviewed publication on COVID-19 death rates as anecdotal. OC leaders are lying to the public.
