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Back in the mid-90’s when mismanagement by the County Treasurer, coupled with the Board of Supervisors being asleep at the switch (or worse), every meeting of the Supervisors was attended by dozens – sometimes hundreds – of angry citizens calling upon Board members to resign in disgrace, accusing them of gross mismanagement or worse, and expressing general outrage and disgust. It was a sight to behold, and from those times a new management structure was implemented within county government – the so-called CEO model. And we all know that the bankruptcy and resultant turmoil was the springboard for the launch of a few new political careers such as John Moorlach, Bruce Whitaker, and others.
Fast forward to today and allegations and cross-allegations about how the Supervisors (one of which is John Moorlach) and their appointees, many of whom appear to be beneficiaries of Supervisoral political patronage, have been running county government. There have been scathing management audits; then high level firings; lawsuits; charges of sexism, racism, and outright corruption regarding the alleged use of county time and equipment to perform work on private property. The list of alleged abuses is longer, but I will stop here. Oh yes, it should be mentioned though that the Supervisors have been meeting in closed session for months to discuss the performance of the County CEO, sparking rumors he will be fired at any moment because all these problems have developed on his watch.
The current situation in OC government is scandalous. Gross mismanagement at best, corruption at the highest levels at the worst. Allegations abound about violation of the public trust, including what equates to mis-appropriation of public funds. It appears that “special interests” are picking the bones of county government for the benefit of themselves and their friends and supporters. It seems that political agendas abound and the taxpayers are getting hosed again. So, where is the public outrage?
The outrage is tucked nicely away in the short term memory. The BOS are a crafty bunch and they know that the voters have this STM desease. They push the can 3-5 months down the road and all will be forgotten and back to their old tricks they will go. I have not seen it this bad in decades – and it appears to only be getting worse.
Back when I was a kid, it was an honor to serve on City Council’s and Board of Supervisors. Now its “what’s in it for me” syndrome. City Council attend 2 meetings a month and bring home just as much money if not more than a full-time employee (much more if you are on the council for Vernon).
Our Board of Supervisors are puppet masters for special interests. They dish out jobs to cronies then fire other staff for not following the rules.
It’s very frustrating. I thought I moved out of the ghetto moving from L.A. County to Orange County. Realistically, its not much better here.
Why defend this scum and their rabble. They should all rot in the L.A. jail system.
Excellent question. Watch the Board meetings and observe how speakers are shut down when they “abuse their right to free speech” (spoken by a BOS member to a speaker). A terse “move it” follows most comments or a clearly fake, ” thank you for your comments’ .followed by…:move the item…..
People…….pull the lawsuits and read them…..watch or attend the BOS meetings. SPEAK UP – we still have rights. The BOS operates they way it does because we allow them to operate in that manner.
I agree with insider, I have attended a couple of their meetings. They come across as very condescending to the public. Why couldn’t Bustamente have harassed me? Oh, I would have given him something to cry about.