Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/category/columnists/norberto-santana-jr/)
Many OC mayors want direct access to a $75 million county bailout fund set up for cities. A majority of county supervisors want a central administrator to distribute the funds instead of just directing monies to local city halls for a local business grant program. Biggest unanswered question is in what areas, sectors to invest the money.
Orange County Republicans come out swinging against California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s singling out of Orange County for bad beach behavior and an ensuing beach ban with OC GOP Chairman Fred Whitaker calling him “King Gavin: and calling for more localized health care decision making. Local Democratic Party Chief Ada Briceño backs Newsom’s closure effort and blames Republican-led local bodies like the board of supervisors for being behind on public health and forcing the governor to take action to protect public safety. Meanwhile, Orange County’s coastal cities scramble to figure out whether to fight or help enforce the governor’s initiative.
Orange County’s newly-appointed Health Care Agency Director Clayton Chau – a well known clinician and public health executive known for his mental health expertise with immigrant communities – was fined by state authorities back in 2014 for failing to disclose lucrative drug company speaking fees from AstraZeneca and other pharmaceutical companies from 2009 to 2012 while he was worked as a top psychiatrist at HCA.
A day after announcing the rollout of Orange County’s ambitious new Covid-19 testing regime for the entire county, Deputy Health Care Agency Director David Souleles abruptly announced his resignation and retirement. Health Care Agency Director Richard sanchez left his post in March to head county’s health insurance plan for the poor and elderly, CalOptima. County officials continue interviewing for a new head of the health department in the midst of the pandemic.
Orange County Supervisors today are expected to start talking about the process of reopening local businesses. What will the new normal look like?
While OC Health Care officials have been scrambling daily for weeks to find more N95 protective facemasks for a variety of first responders, doctors and nurses, in February HCA procurement executives listed as government surplus more than 100,00 of the cloth masks, possibly selling them for as little as $1 a piece.
Whether it’s finding out about the readiness of hospitals or figuring out how many testing kits exist or asking about what cities’ residents are testing positive for the virus, the answer most often from the County of Orange in the past few weeks is we can’t say.
It’s time for government leaders at the local, state and federal level to step up and work together to quickly figure out the nuts and bolts of pandemic response in an environment where they are clearly playing catch up.
Politicians should pull away from the press conference podium and let public health professionals handle public information updates.
Former Public Affairs Director Melanie Eustice was paid out a $75,000 settlement last fall after dropping her public contracting corruption claim against District Attorney Todd Spitzer and agreeing to silence. Eustice was one of Spitzer’s longest-serving aides.