County’s top elected leaders call highly critical report “selective” and “one-sided” and say the county has no need for an ethics commission.
Tag: Fair Political Practices Commission
Posted inCountywide, Health & Wellness, Investigative, Irvine, Top Stories
Controversial Legal Defense Expected for UCI Ex-Professor
Lawyers are likely to argue that engineering professor Tatsuya Suda cannot be prosecuted for taking illegal payments because the UC system is a sovereign entity.
Posted inCountywide, Government, Investigative, Irvine, Top Stories
Ex-UCI Scientist Faces Unprecedented Criminal Charges
Tatsuya Suda, who until January had been a member of the UC Irvine faculty for more than 25 years, has been charged with six felony counts.
Posted inPolitics & Elections
Well-Funded Groups Play ‘Shell Game’ With Political Ads
Dozens of political groups face fines each election cycle for illegally hiding their contributors, records show. Campaign watchdogs say the penalties are so low that some see it as simply a cost of doing business.
Posted inIrvine, Politics & Elections
Secretive East Coast Group Backs GOP Candidates in Irvine
A Virginia-based nonprofit has funneled $200,000 to a statewide PAC that is working to defeat Irvine City Councilman Larry Agran and his slate of Democratic candidates in next week’s election.
Posted inGovernment, Investigative, Norberto Santana Jr., Orange, Top Stories
A Politico’s Quest to Change Campaign Finance Law
In recent years, taxpayer-funded lobbyists promoted state legislation that would have enabled Orange County Water District Director Denis Bilodeau to collect unlimited contributions from agency vendors.
Posted inGovernment, Investigative, Top Stories
Nguyen Blames Former CalOptima Executives for Agency’s Brain Drain
Supervisor says the former CEO and COO purposely wooed away other top employees to hurt CalOptima. COO denies doing anything of the sort.
Posted inSanta Ana
Downtown Promotion Tax Receives Stay of Execution
The county granted the city an extension to approve the levy for next year, but it still seems unlikely that the tax will continue.
Posted inSanta Ana
Santa Ana Downtown Tax Likely to Expire
The tax has been the center of a nearly two-year battle that squared property owners against each other and was criticized for being part of a downtown gentrification plan.
Posted inGovernment, Investigative, Top Stories
FPPC Will Not Open Probe Into CalOptima Conflict Allegations
The state’s political watchdog says an investigation into anonymous conflict of interest charges is not warranted.
