The controversy over Orange County First District Supervisor Andrew Do’s direction of millions in taxpayer money to a charity with ties to his daughter has cast a harsh spotlight on the county’s policies for handling the windfall of COVID relief funds at the discretion of individual supervisors.
Traditionally, each member of the Board of Supervisors is provided $200,000 or so yearly to spend on events and programs as they see fit, without the kind of scrutiny given to larger contracts awarded by the county.
Beginning in 2021, however, the five supervisors were each given $10 million in federal COVID relief money and another $3 million in general funds to spend on their communities, representing a 6,400% increase in discretionary funds available to them. To date, the district supervisors have allocated about $46 million, or 71% of the one-time funding, to a variety of cities, school districts, nonprofits, county initiatives, hospitals and more.
Fourth District Supervisor Doug Chaffee said he set some early guidelines for how his office would be directing the discretionary funds in his district, focusing on helping veterans and residents experiencing or at-risk of homelessness and providing healthcare, workforce development and infrastructure projects.
“I have the discretion to do innovative things that I think are good for the community,” he said of the infusion of funds. Just last month, his fellow supervisors approved his plan to earmark $500,000 toward a homelessness prevention program run by the nonprofit Friendly Center in which struggling families can receive help with up to three months worth of rent. “It enables me to do creative things.”
County records show Do has spent $12.4 million of his discretionary allotment in the First District, with Supervisors Katrina Foley and Vicente Sarmiento spending $11.3 million in the reformed Second District; Supervisor Don Wagner spending $4.2 million in the Third District; Chaffee spending $8.1…
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