July 18 marked the beginning of a new chapter for Orange County.

Our new County Civic Center symbolized by the Admin North and South buildings with more to come in the upcoming years embodies the County’s larger aspirations for the future of our county and our commitment to service for our residents.

Over the last 35 years, I have worked in five of the buildings around the Civic Center, so I know first-hand how old and inefficient these buildings can be. We had a lot of dead space. Many hallways led to isolated offices, which made for very inefficient and costly lighting, heating, and cooling. It was also hard to find where the county departments were located. It was like a maze, even for us working here.

With the vast majority of our buildings near or past the end of their useful life while hundreds of thousands of square feet of office space were then under lease by the County, I and then-Supervisor Shawn Nelson, as part of the Real Estate Ad Hoc Committee, saw an opportunity to consolidate our departments, create a better working environment for our employees, and help save the environment through energy-efficient buildings, and we set out to achieve exactly what we celebrated today with the grand opening of Admin North.

But we didn’t just set out in 2016 to build a couple of new buildings. What we all set out to do was simply transform the way business is run at the County. The County of Orange and its 18,000 employees are dedicated to making our residents successful.

So many people are responsible for the amazing vision that we celebrated. My colleagues on the Board of Supervisors, as well as former Supervisors Steel, Spitzer, and Nelson. Many thanks to our county staff, especially CEO Frank Kim and CFO Michelle Aguirre, former OC Public Works Director Shane Silsby, CEO Roger Torriero and the Griffin Construction team.

Looking around at the new Civic Center, I know that our proactive, result-oriented approach is already making a difference, and I look forward to seeing it continue even more in the years to come.

On August 3, I had the honor of announcing Attorney Van Tran as my Chief of Staff. Van has previously served as Councilman and Deputy Mayor of Garden Grove and a member of the California State Assembly. Van was the first Vietnamese American to serve in the California State Legislature.

Van has contributed significantly to the development of Little Saigon— from humble beginnings to its prominence as the largest Vietnamese community outside of Vietnam. While in the Legislature, Van worked on many important issues that affect our community, such as public safety, transportation & commerce, and social services programs for seniors and low-income residents.

Welcome, Van. With your legal expertise, compassion, and dedication to public service, you will be an invaluable asset to our First District team.

The Equity in OC Initiative aims to improve the lives of underserved and multicultural communities in Orange County by advancing health equity, access, and wellness.

In June, I had the opportunity to give some remarks during the last day of a three-day equity academy hosted by the Orange County Health Care Agency’s Office of Population Health & Equity at Mile Square Park where over 250 community organizations participated. The generosity of everyone in sharing their experience and commitment to community service has been crucial to the success of the Equity in OC Initiative.

To help complement the County’s efforts in addressing the Social Determinants of Health for those most impacted by health inequities in Orange County, the OC Health Care Agency created a $500,000 grant opportunity to support 10 community organizations in developing their own equity improvement project. However, more than 50 applications were received.

To further help build capacity in terms of organizational governance and programs within local community organizations and achieve the goals of the Equity in OC Initiative, I requested during a July Board of Supervisors Meeting, $1 million from the First District allocation of discretionary funding to be added to the current equity grant pool, making it a total of $1.5 million. This will allow all applications to be considered.

I am inspired to see the commitment that these OC organizations have for equity, and I’m excited to see the progress that will be made with their help.

In early August, the Board of Supervisors was happy to congratulate Debra Baetz for her outstanding 32-year career with the County of Orange.

As someone who has worked in the County for over three decades, I’ve witnessed Debra's journey from an eligibility worker to becoming the Director of the OC Social Services Agency. Her journey here at the County exemplifies that with hard work, the sky's the limit.

Among her many accomplishments, Debra expanded the SSA’s community engagement and outreach efforts by adding to its mobile response vehicle (MRV) fleet to extend services to residents in hard-to-reach areas. These MRVs and eligibility teams supported the recent resettlement of Afghan and Ukrainian refugees.

Thank you for all your years of service to Orange County. Wishing you a happy retirement!

In early August, the Board of Supervisors presented a resolution to Honorable Joanne Motoike for her exceptional leadership as Presiding Judge of Orange County Juvenile Court and recent appointment as Associate Justice of the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division Three. 

Years ago, both Judge Motoike and I worked at Orange County’s Public Defender’s office. Today, she continues to serve as a voice for justice and humanity in a higher capacity as an Associate Justice. Congratulations, Judge Motoike on your new appointment, and thank you for your contributions toward justice!

In recognition of Eligibility Professionals Recognition Month, the Board of Supervisors had the opportunity to present a resolution to An Tran, incoming Director of SSA, and Dylan Wright, Director of OC Community Resources.

Eligibility professionals encompass a large group of people. The work they do every day is really where the rubber meets the road. People come to eligibility workers emotional and under distress, with needs that are immediate and profound. To diffuse such situations and process the information properly is truly such an awesome responsibility. Coming to America as refugees, my family and I understand the importance of their work. 

Special thanks to the dedicated group of employees who continuously help others in need!

From July 17 to July 23, we recognized the work that probation, parole, and community supervision professionals do for our public safety. On July 19, the Board of Supervisors commemorated Probation Services Week by presenting a resolution to Bryan Prieto, Interim Chief Probation Officer, and his staff.

The Orange County Probation Office is truly an unsung hero. As someone who worked in juvenile and adult court, I understand how integral and widespread the Probation Department is beyond conviction. They are the conduit between the court, county, prosecution, and defendants.

Having worked with them for more than 32 years as a lawyer, pro bono prosecutor, and now as a County Supervisor, I want to express my appreciation to those serving in Probation Services.

On July 20, I was honored to be a guest speaker and celebrate the grand opening of Prado, a beautiful new housing community in Fountain Valley City Hall for extremely low and very low-income families, as well as supportive housing units for veterans who are experiencing homelessness or being at risk of homelessness.

Over the past almost eight years, I have collaborated closely with my Board colleagues, nonprofit leaders, city councils, and state legislators to make affordable housing a greater priority in Orange County.

This grand opening event is the culmination of this collaborative effort. Five years ago, the County helped draft AB 448 to create the OC Housing Finance Trust, with the goal of developing 2,700 units of supportive housing throughout the County by 2025. I am happy to report that we have achieved over 2,200 units thus far. Prado represents 50 of those units. 

To help facilitate the development of Prado, the County provided a $453,600 loan from Housing Successor Agency funding while the Orange County Housing Authority provided 8 Project-Based Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Vouchers with a value of approximately $2.5 Million.

I was very proud to listen to the Developer compliment the professionalism and exceptionalism of our Housing and Community Development staff. I also want to recognize Mayor Harper, the Fountain Valley City Council, and the fine city staff for bringing this project to fruition in their city. 

As we look for more ways to help our homeless population, especially our veterans, we applaud the work and efforts of partners like Related Companies of California for their contributions to our supportive housing goals.

In July, I toured two OC Public Works projects in the City of Huntington Beach:

• The East Garden Grove-Wintersburg Flood Channel Improvement Project
• The Huntington Beach Channel and Talbert Channel Improvement Project

The projects are prioritizing critical areas for 10-year levee recertification. If these projects aren’t completed, thousands of structures, including residential homes, risk being reintroduced to the floodplain resulting in all homeowners in the area being required to pay for expensive annual/mandatory flood insurance premiums. 

The County of Orange allocated over $78 million dollars toward the Design-Build of these projects and all construction is scheduled to be completed in October 2023.

For more information on these two projects and others, visit www.ocpublicworks.com.

In July, I hosted a presentation and tour of the newly renovated County Community Service Center (CCSC) in the City of Westminster.

The CCSC opened in 2007 with a few employees from the Orange County Health Care Agency. Almost a decade later, other County services such as the OC Social Services Agency, the OC Office on Aging, and community partner CalOptima joined the center.

Just earlier this year, the CCSC expanded to the second floor. Clients now have greater access to more County services, whether it’s emotional and mental health through HCA, rental assistance through OC Housing Authority, or medical care through CalOptima.

And with the recent Countywide Language Access Policy that I authored in 2020, the County is committed to meeting the diverse language needs of its constituents regardless of their level of English proficiency.

We know that residents whose primary language is not English often feel intimidated walking into a big government building to access essential services. Here at the CCSC, we are changing the County’s approach to how we offer services to our residents.

Special thanks to all County staff who have contributed to the center’s success! 

In late July, I was honored to be Fountain Valley Mayor Patrick Harper’s keynote speaker at the Mayor’s Breakfast. 

After Mayor Patrick Harper presented his informative update on city matters, I took the residents through an update on what we’re doing at the County and what we have accomplished so far. From clearing out the homeless encampments, revitalizing the Civic Center, improving mental health services, building a Veteran’s cemetery, investing in affordable housing, and so much more.

Thank you, Mayor Harper, for this opportunity to speak directly with the residents of Fountain Valley. And thank you to the Fountain Valley Regional Hospital for hosting the meeting. 

Congratulations to Elnora Reddick for being a recipient of the Neighborhood Hero Award!

Elnora is an apartment manager at the Camden Place Senior Apartments in the City of La Palma and was nominated by one of her residents, Susie, for being “kind, loving, and caring.”

The First District Team coordinated a visit to the senior apartments where Elnora was presented with a certificate of recognition and celebrated among her friends.

Unsung heroes are everywhere. If you know someone in your neighborhood who has gone above and beyond for others, please complete this short nomination in the link below!

Nomination Form: https://forms.gle/H9mS6wxp6iwQCWGM7