Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/author/tsears/)
Theresa Sears is Involvement Editor for Voice of OC and works with active residents throughout Orange County helping to lift their voices by facilitating the publication of daily Op-eds from a broad array of perspectives. Theresa also handles office administration and works to help organize Voice of OC civic training programs and policy events. With an intimate knowledge of Orange County civic issues, Theresa has worked as an active grassroots community leader on a host of public land use and regional public-benefit issues across the region for the past three decades. As a solutions oriented activist, she has taken a leadership role in grass roots efforts supporting the public’s right to know and petition their government, community engagement, legal remedies and direct democracy. Her efforts have preserved Orange County’s fairgrounds, Barham Ranch which is now part of Santiago Oak Regional Park, as well critical open space in East Orange. She’s also led efforts to protect Orange County’s regional park system as a leader with the Friends of Harbors, Beaches and Parks Languages spoken: English and some Spanish Areas of expertise: Community organizing, direct democracy, open government – public oversight, land use, civic engagement and protecting public assets.
On April 22, the South Orange County Community College District Board of Trustees and district officials will wear denim during a regularly scheduled board meeting to recognize Denim Day.
Olivia Harden, a student at Chapman and Features Editor of The Panther Newspaper, writes that being Black at Chapman can be traumatic and has only been exacerbated by the refusal of Chapman’s President to remove a racially charged poster of the film Birth of a Nation, at the Dodge School of Film. A vote Monday by the faculty will consider whether to call for a change.
Join Shoshana Zuboff for a fascinating talk about the unprecedented form of power called “surveillance capitalism” and the quest by corporations to predict and control our behavior. In our current age of social media and smart devices, we are under 24-hour surveillance.
Santa Margarita Water District Director, Charley Wilson, today announced his resignation from the Orange County Local Agency Formation Commission.
Deborah Pauly, an elected member of the OC Republican Party and former Villa Park Councilwoman, writes about the lobbyists and consultants that are able to influence elected officials, with taxpayer dollars, all facilitated by the Association of California Cities – Orange County.
Fr. Dennis Kriz, Pastor at St. Philip Benizi Catholic Church in Fullerton, reflects upon the eighteen people who died “without fixed abode” in Orange County in March.
Anaheim’s Mike Robbins, from the People’s Homeless Task Force, writes about the ACLU lawsuit filed against the County of Orange alleging illegal restrictions on public comment.
Participatory democracy, in which constituents are free to comment on the actions and views of elected officials, is one of the cornerstones of our nation. But not at the Orange County Board of Supervisors, where meetings are held in a manner more befitting a monarchy.
This Thursday, the OC Forum will host “The Art of Courage: Grace Over Hate,” a discussion featuring acclaimed classical music conductor Murry Sidlin, who is currently touring with his concert-drama “Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezin.”
Keith Curry, a former Mayor of Newport Beach, writes that campaign finance reform is long overdue in Newport Beach.