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Media Advisory for Tuesday, January 23, 2024 at 8:30am PT
Contact:
Vincent Tran (714) 775-6789 | vincent@vietrise.org
Orange County Community Leaders and Residents in Little Saigon Gather to Call For OC Supervisor Andrew Do’s Resignation
After numerous incidents of alleged abuses of power and violations of ethical governance, Orange County leaders and organizations are calling for Supervisor Andrew Do’s resignation
ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. – In response to recent coverage by the LAist that details years of violations of ethical governance by Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do, community organizations VietRISE, Harbor Institute for Immigrant and Economic Justice, and OC Justice Fund will hold a press conference on January 23, 2024, at 8:30 AM. The purpose is to call for Supervisor Do’s resignation, accompanied by an independent investigation and audit into his actions.
Who: VietRISE, Harbor Institute for Immigrant and Economic Justice, and Orange County Justice Fund
When: January 23, 8:30 AM – 9 AM
Where: The Board of Supervisors meets in the County Administration North, Board Hearing Room, First Floor, 400 W Civic Center Dr, Santa Ana
As reported by the LAist, Supervisor Do did not publicly disclose his family connection when allocating $3.1 million in two contracts to Warner Wellness Center, a nonprofit where Supervisor Do’s daughter serves as president. Supervisor Do previously played a role in allocating $4.2 million to its parent group, even though it “was not a legally registered nonprofit.”
Last year, Supervisor Do was fined $12,000 by the California Fair Political Practices Commission for engaging in “pay-to-play” politics. This involved steering lobbyist contracts to his campaign donors while serving on the board of CalOptima, the agency that oversees OC’s medical insurance plan for the poor.
In response to these actions, Orange County community leaders have called for Supervisor Do’s resignation. They are also urging the Board of Supervisors to initiate an immediate, impartial investigation into the reported ethics violations, conduct a comprehensive audit of all public funds allocated under Supervisor Do’s oversight, and approve amendments to Rule 37 of the Board of Supervisors Rules of Procedure and proposed Guidelines for the District Discretionary Projects Program.
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SUPPLEMENTAL Background on Supervisor Do’s wrongdoings while serving as a county supervisor and the proposed ethical reforms presented by Supervisor Sarmiento
In addition to the previously mentioned actions, on November 16, 2023, while testifying as a witness for a lawsuit between the city of Santa Ana and the nonprofit Mental Health Association of Orange County, Supervisor Andrew Do failed to disclose that his wife served as a judge in the court of the lawsuit. Upon learning this, the presiding judge ruled a mistrial.
In February 2023, Supervisor Do resigned from his position on the CalOptima board after a state investigation into controversial pay raises and hiring under his leadership as the chairman of the board. The investigation looked into Do’s hiring one of his top aides to the chief of staff position with a $282,000 salary (with less than one year of healthcare administration experience). He also presided over major pay raises for executives like the CEO and top HR official.
The amendments presented by Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento are specifically to Rule 37 of the Board of Supervisors Rules of Procedure and creating the Guidelines for District Discretionary Projects Program. Specifically, the amendment to Rule 37 adds explicit language requiring the Board Supervisors to publicly disclose family relationships with any parties seeking “licenses, permits, or other entitlements” from the county. “Family relationship” is defined as “a relationship by blood, adoption, marriage, domestic partnership, and cohabitation, and includes parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, children, uncles, aunts, nephews, nieces, first cousins, siblings, and the spouses or domestic partners of each of these relatives and cohabitants.” The Guidelines for the District Discretionary Projects Program establish similar requirements for discretionary projects where supervisors are required to disclose any family relationships with “officers or employees of the organization receiving program funds.”
These amendments are up for approval at the OC Board of Supervisors Meeting on Tuesday, January 23 2024. Supervisors Sarmiento and Foley have already publicly announced their support for these amendments.
I just wanted to commend those who attended the board of supervisors meeting this past week, to speak out against the despicable behavior and misappropriation of millions of dollars of taxpayer funds by Andrew Do. I came across the same article by the LAist And was hoping something could be done. However, after hearing about the 2–2 vote, I was deeply disappointed.
What other action can be taken, or what other organizations in the county can be driven towards action to either investigate or audit Andrew Do to make public all of the funds that we believe have been misappropriated. I would really love to know what that money is being used, for what it was used for, else may have been involved in allowing this all to occur. This is no small amount of money. And I hope to see the fight to have this man removed from office.