Orange County residents are guaranteed one new face on the OC Board of Supervisors, with First District Supervisor Andrew Do termed out and unable to seek reelection.
Five candidates, all with past experience in civic leadership, are looking to grab the First District seat, which represents Huntington Beach, Westminster, Fountain Valley and parts of Garden Grove on the board. Ballots in March’s primary election should start arriving in the mailboxes of registered voters this week.
Qualifying for the ballot are Westminster Councilmember Kimberly Ho; Cypress Councilmember Frances Marquez; state Sen. Janet Nguyen; Van Tran, who is currently serving as Do’s chief of staff; and business owner Michael Vo. If no candidate gets more than 50% of the vote, the top two proceed to a November runoff.
Read more: Follow the links on each candidate name to see how they responded to our 2024 voter guide questions, and check out the entire guide here.
The five-member Board of Supervisors sets policy and direction and oversees the county’s $9.3 billion budget, 18,000 employees and various departments including animal care, landfills, public works, social services and public health.
The candidates have all said they want to prioritize issues around government transparency, homelessness and public safety, but they have different opinions on how exactly those should be addressed.
Vo said affordable housing is not being built at the rate Orange County families need it, and more housing is the start to ending homelessness.
“People have blatantly told me that, if you give homeless people a house, that doesn’t solve anything; there are people fixated on that. But I look at them and I tell them that obviously housing is not the answer – it is a start. We have to start somewhere,” said Vo, who has previously served on the Fountain Valley City Council. “A homeless person wants a roof over their head, and a key, and they can come and go anytime they want. They have a…
Read the full article here