Second District Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento is proposing county supervisors be required to disclose family relationships when voting on related items in response to reports First District Supervisor Andrew Do voted on funding for subcontracts with a mental health facility without publicly mentioning a close family connection.
Sarmiento’s proposed amendment to county policy would broaden the definition of family relationship, defining it as by “blood, adoption, marriage, domestic partnership and cohabitation.” The OC Board of Supervisors is set to consider his proposal at its Tuesday, Dec. 19, meeting.
Do voted with other members of the OC Board of Supervisors to approve funding for the Warner Wellness Center, for which his daughter is currently a vice president, according to her LinkedIn page, without disclosing during the meeting his family connection, as first reported by the LAist.
The county’s conflict of interest policy follows state law, which says public officials cannot make decisions that would financially benefit their minor children. The law does not apply to adult offspring.
“As elected officials, we have an obligation to be as transparent as possible with the public and disclose any potential conflicts of interest, especially when voting to spend taxpayer dollars,” Sarmiento said.
The two subcontracts in question, one for up to $625,000 that was approved in November 2022, and another for up to $1.2 million that was approved in May, were for mental health services, such as for the expansion of the county’s warmline.
Since LAist reported on the votes last month, some community leaders – and The Orange County Register’s editorial board – have called on Do to resign. Do said in a statement there has been no wrongdoing and the article was “null and void.”
“VAS (Viet American Society), the nonprofit mentioned, was already under three previous county contracts during COVID, well before my daughter was hired as an employee to…
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