Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/michelle-steel/)
The supervisors’ most immediate action was to take control of the county’s internal auditors, who are supposed to function as watchdogs against fraud in county departments and currently report to the county’s independently-elected auditor-controller, Eric Woolery.
Orange County supervisors moved Tuesday to remove independent oversight of their actions, county finances, and the practices of the Sheriff’s Department and District Attorney’s Office.
Lisa Bartlett and Michelle Steel’s county supervisor seats weren’t considered competitive, given the voter registration advantage for the incumbent Republicans.
Supervisors Todd Spitzer and Shawn Nelson said they are opposed to a proposal by south Orange County mayors to put a new homeless shelter on county-owned property in rural Silverado Canyon.
Hundreds of millions of dollars in state grants could become available next year, and some community leaders want to compete for it to help build 2,700 homes for homeless people.
Spitzer was “stirring up a bunch of lies and nonsense” with his comments last month to public meetings of the Laguna Niguel and Costa Mesa city councils, Supervisor Shawn Nelson said. Spitzer said his colleagues weren’t telling the whole story.
“We don’t have sufficient capacity,” said the supervisors’ chairman, Andrew Do. The issue is scheduled to be discussed Tuesday at a federal court hearing with U.S. District Judge David O. Carter, county officials, and city officials from across Orange County.
All three of the proposed shelter sites could be eliminated Tuesday, but another vote on re-selecting the location for the beds is expected at a later date, after county and city officials gather on April 3 for a court-organized meeting.
The lack of affordable housing threatens the quality of life and upward mobility of residents, and puts the county’s economic future at risk, according to a declaration by county supervisors.
Steel and her husband, the high-profile Republican Shawn Steel, were two of the three people who welcomed Trump on the airport tarmac Tuesday afternoon and spoke with the president, according to news reports.