I am committed to fighting corruption and waste in Orange County – Orange County Register

During my 20 years in public service, I have had two goals: to be the voice of the people and to fight corruption and wastefulness. Sadly, there has been no shortage of work to do on the latter. 

Orange County is one of the best places to live in America. Yet I continue to see the glad-handing, special interest perks and grift traditionally seen in places like Chicago or New York.

When I became an Orange County Supervisor in 2007, I was shocked at the wastefulness I saw while sitting on the CalOptima Board of Directors. CalOptima is the county’s service provider for Medicare and Medical but it’s anything but optimal.

I saw wasteful spending, misappropriation of public funds, lack of transparency and oversight, mismanagement, executive salaries in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, special interest giveaways at taxpayer expense, and millions spent leasing vacant buildings. All of this while the agency tried to suck money out of the poor with a co-pay despite its $1.4 billion budget.

I refused to sit idly while this agency was recklessly governed and immediately began questioning these expenditures. After a lot of work, my efforts resulted in commendable status by the National Committee for Quality Assurance, and a top Medi-Cal quality ranking by the state. 

I also expanded the Board of Directors to include a wider range of expertise and ensured that 95 I cents of every dollar was spent on healthcare.

Then as a state legislator, I tackled more corruption. Within the past two years, we had a focus on  county supervisors. This included: 

• Requiring approval by the OC Board of Supervisors for a member to award funds to a nonprofit (AB 2946)
• Requiring disclosure by Board of Supervisor members before awarding funds to a nonprofit associated with a relative (AB 3130)
• Requiring public officials to abstain from voting on contracts benefitting their children (SB 1111)

These bills were signed into law, spurred on by a scandal involving Supervisor Andrew Do awarding more than $13 million to allegedly feed indigent seniors and build a veteran’s memorial. But the main beneficiary has been his young daughter who was employed with that organization and able to afford the purchase of a Tustin home despite saying her main occupation is a student at UCI.

Most seniors weren’t fed, the memorial is not completed and the county has received no accounting for the funds. Do was censured by the Board of Supervisors for his conduct. 

And that’s not all. While assuming a CalOptima Board position, Do padded the salary of the CEO to a mind boggling $940,000 a year. Was this so he could take over the job when he retired? In response, a bill was passed and signed by the governor prohibiting a supervisor from retiring and immediately assuming a CalOptima post.

I have questions about other county agencies as well, such as OC Animal Care. I wrote a new law signed by the governor outlining guidelines for medical care at government animal shelters. I’m also concerned about the lack of oversight regarding Orange County’s homeless spending, so that will be one of my priorities if I am elected supervisor.

So it’s with great bemusement that I read an op-ed written by my opponent Frances Marquez, claiming that I’m not tough on corruption and erroneously citing my efforts to reform a problematic agency.