Homelessness

South OC does not have a comprehensive approach to address homelessness – yet.  Solutions will not happen if we wait on Sacramento to act on legislation that is national or statewide that may not be practical for South OC. While we welcome options for temporary shelters, converting motels or other units into permanent shelters wouldn’t be optimal in high-tourist beach areas. We know what works for Orange County, that has built a System of Care and a broad response plan.  The OC Housing Finance Trust was formed to identify and secure 2,700 permanent supportive housing units with 6 projects underway in SOC that I will shepherd to completion.

Additionally, we must expand support for non-profits such as the Family Assistance Ministry (FAM) that provide temporary and permanent shelters in SOC at present and offer intake assessments for County-wide homeless assistance. FAM also operates a food bank in San Clemente and thrift store in Laguna Niguel. FAM will need to relocate their intake and foodbank facility within the next year due to expiration of leased facility in San Clemente. One housing model is to purchase existing multi-family units through contributions, grants and mortgages, which they retire. They presently own 2 triplexes and house those with children who need temporary assistance, one family per bedroom with the common area shared.  I’ve toured these facilities and units are in excellent repair, meld into the neighborhood and have on sight supervision. Within 90 days these families are relocated into rental housing and within a year, families are paying full market rent and back on their feet again.  FAM also works to secure permanent housing for mentally ill and disabled and elderly persons. (See: www.familyassistance.org)

Illumination Foundation is a comprehensive resource non-profit organization we can and do leverage to assist in SOC. Be Well OC provides mental health assistance and mobile response teams for addiction and mental illness. Working with the cities I will help secure location (s) that meets the court mandate for our Southern region, ensure the county is available to provide wrap around integrated services for care. I will explore options within our district for a central facility such that the burden on the cities is relived as much as possible.  We should not be subjected to illegal camping in our parks, beaches, alleys, or business locations. We can and will do better to meet the requirements for relocation and supporting our communities.

Fentanyl

Proposing legislation and waiting for Sacramento to act is futile – we must expand on what works locally to keep OC safe. Multiple efforts over the past 5 years on the part of our Sheriff and law enforcement in general with OC Legislators to strengthen our laws have failed in Senate Public Safety Committee. The Sheriff recently commented that, “rather than pass a law that will help end this drug epidemic, they chose to further policies that empower Drug Cartels at the expense of California lives.” None the less, the Department is working with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration and local police departments to arrest and file criminal cases against the those who sell fentanyl-laced drugs in Orange County. The Sheriff’s Department also formed Stay Safe OC that supplies law enforcement teams to track the illicit sellers of fentanyl, as well as educate on the dangers and methods of exposure to the drug for our kids and adults. 

The District Attorney’s Narcotics Enforcement Team investigates and prosecutes illicit drug sellers, applying felony enhancements and murder charges for trafficking fentanyl. We have a good team in Orange County, and they need help that won’t come from Sacramento.

Our porous borders will only increase the threat to our citizens. We must encourage the current Administration to take action to protect the border in California as well as other border states. The present inaction means that we must do more locally to combat the Cartels. Reports are that fentanyl imported from China to Mexican Drug Cartels is then processed to create fentanyl laced pills, that are very easy to transport. Combatting this killer street drug will require additional public safety funding and personnel which I will promote based on need and metrics of success that we are witnessing.  We must supply our local boots on the ground with the ammunition they need to fight this war that is killing our children and adults, many that are duped and ingesting fentanyl by accident. This is often not a choice, but a criminal solicitation online or other that kills the innocent, and we must do all we can to combat this plague.

Sea Level Rise

Senate Bill 1 was passed in 2020 with grant money for the revised Local Coastal Program for municipalities. To date, few if any submitted revised LCP’s have been approved by the Coastal Commission.  The rejections have indicated the plans don’t go far enough.

As your Supervisor, I will help our cities meet Local Coastal Program solutions with an eye toward limiting the “managed retreat” option.  Property owners should not have their property under threat of another form of eminent domain. Stormwater management, retrofitting and/or elevating existing structures and where necessary, updating land use designations and zoning are options that must be weighed carefully to protect property ownership.

I will promote and work with the State, Federal and County to secure funding and work with stakeholders to preserve our coastline which provides local as well as tourist enjoyment and revenue. Seal Beach and San Clemente have secured federal funding for sand replenishment, and we need to further explore this option where practical.

Reenforcing existing revetments should also be part of the solution.  Where revetments are in place it makes economic sense to maintain them for property owners as well as public transportation, streets and railroad tracks that may be impacted, such as the tracks linking our county with San Diego. There have been recent approvals in San Diego County for revetment repair. The living shoreline, where sand dunes and plants to help secure the shoreline should also be implemented where practical. I will also continue work to expand options to protect our beaches and parks that have or may be impacted, such as Capistrano Beach. We need to ensure there is beach access for the public, which was and still is the mission of the Coastal Commission, in addition to protecting the coastline.

I will have a member seat on OCTA and will work with CalTrans, OC Parks, State and City Parks that dot our district to ensure resolutions are compatible with our residents and agency budgets.

We also must work toward the relocation of the nuclear waste at San Onofre. I will continue the efforts of our current Supervisor, Lisa Bartlett, and Supervisor, Jim Desmond in San Diego, who have worked collaboratively with elected officials and the community to pursue temporary or permanent storage for San Onofre as well as 75 operating or shut down nuclear power plants in 33 states with stored waste, that grows by about 2,000 metric tons each year.

Public Safety

Endorsed by Sheriff Don Barnes, Association of Assistant District Attorneys, Crime Survivors PAC, and Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs

I am proud that the people of Orange County place a strong emphasis on public safety, and I promise to work to ensure our County remains one of the safest Counties in the nation. I will pledge to provide resources that ensure that our “boots” on the ground locally have the tools and direction they need to meet this ever-daunting mission.

Public Safety is the second largest percentage of the County Budget and is the number one role of Government. People centuries ago, determined there was more safety in numbers and they set rules for behavior and discipline in their respective communities.  Our rules come from the constitution and the laws we pass in our Congress and various State Legislatures.

We entrust our Law Enforcement teams with enforcing our laws and protecting us where we live, work, play and send our children to school. The Sheriff, deputies, and police make arrests; The District Attorney and assistants determine if and how to prosecute, and our Fire Departments work in conjunction with our public safety personnel not only to protect us from fires but also provide on-sight emergency medical care for crime victims and others upon demand.

If we don’t feel safe, we won’t shop, dine, work, or play in our communities. The laws that have passed in Sacramento such as AB 109, and voter approved Proposition 47, and 57, relaxed sentencing, released criminals early, granted no-bail and transferred much of the state woes to our Counties.  The increase in traffic crossing our southern border has added to the Cartels’ability to traffic in humans as well as dangerous drugs, such as the killer, Fentanyl to innocent victims online or on the street.

Mental health issues and homelessness are also addressed by the Sheriff as well as our Health Care Agency and community partners, such as Be Well OC with campus in Orange and second campus planned for the Irvine area.  

Our County Supervisors determine the budget and focus for: Sheriff, Jails, District Attorney, and all investigative services. That is why your next County Supervisor for District 5 is so important. We don’t need a candidate that will defund or not allocate the resources needed to sustain this important function. Through careful analysis of data, what works and what doesn’t I will work cooperatively with our law enforcement professionals to ensure that criminals are prosecuted, and victims are treated with respect and provided the resources they need to in a time of crisis.  

My stance on these issues is why I have the full support of our law enforcement team and I hope I have or will gain yours.