Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/fred-smoller/)
The “unheard of” early return trend comes amid new controversy over California Republicans’ self-proclaimed “ballot harvesting program” through the use of unofficial ballot collection boxes.
Supervisor Don Wagner quibbles with typos and minor details, but fails to acknowledge the big picture about race relations and the Covid-19 crisis. Wagner refuses to address the fact the Board of Supervisors rejected the call to put a discussion of the renaming of John Wayne Airport, an avowed White Supremacist, on the agenda of its July 14 meeting or before voters. Just like Trump, Wagner fails to take responsibility for the County’s failed response to the Covid-19 crisis, which is why virus cases and deaths in Orange County have, since late May and early June, spiraled out of control. The County needs leadership, not political gamesmanship.
Professors Mainero and Smoller get basic facts wrong in their effort to impugn county leadership.
The Chapman professors—one conservative, one progressive—argue that Donald Trump is proudly taking the national and local GOP over a cliff. The president’s exploitation of America’s racial divide and rejection of science is being emulated by Orange County Republican electeds, to their political peril.
The 2020 election was already set to be pivotal; but now it will be further shaped by regional forces like Coronavirus and social protests.
John Wayne’s white supremacist views came to light again when a 1971 interview he did with Playboy magazine went viral in early 2019. As symbols of racial intolerance are taken down across the country, the time has come to rename our airport and remove Wayne’s statue. The actor does not represent our diverse, cosmopolitan community.
OC sheriff’s deputies now make more than double what the county’s social workers do in median pay and benefits, according to payroll data, a gap that has widened further in recent years.
Roughly half of Orange County’s 34 cities have seen residents take to the streets and protest the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd.
Chapman University professor Fred Smoller and retired US Department of Energy Director Richard King explain why it’s important for California to have its own Solar Decathlon competition.
Chapman University Professor Fred Smoller writes that county supervisors should consider phasing in the implementation of the Voters Choice Act, possibly creating a more politically palatable product in places like Orange County, where the board of supervisors has rejected implementation.