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Press release

This story is part of the Voice of OC Collegiate News Service, a partnership with Chapman University that trains student journalists to cover public policy across Orange County. Have a student project or a response to this work? Email admin@voiceofoc.org.

After grappling with bleak budget outlooks for years, Fullerton City Council members are on track to defund 35 vacant staff positions in an effort to stave off a deficit for three years – but that plan assumes no fiscal emergencies or new labor contracts. 

It comes after a split city council this week decided against a 0.5% sales tax increase ballot measure that could’ve helped fix Fullerton’s aging roads, which staff said have become the worst in Orange County. 

City council members in nearby Orange are grappling with a $20 million structural deficit as officials are asking city voters if they want to switch to a charter city – a move some elected officials say can boost tax revenue and local control.

As Irvine grapples with a looming $9 million deficit, city council members are asking voters if they want to change the way they elect people to the council – going from plurality voting to ranked choice voting in 2028 if the measure passes this November.

It comes as city officials spent millions to remodel Irvine City Hall, with a Voice of OC review finding the city spent up to $15 million in tax dollars as the city fell into a deficit. 

While cities are legally required to adopt a balanced budget, many throughout OC face structural deficits as general fund spending outpaces revenue – forcing city officials to shift money around from places like reserves and issue hiring freezes and services cuts to close the gap.  

Officials in Costa Mesa decided to keep the city’s controversial automated licence plate readers from Flock after a former police officer this year admitted to using the cameras to stalk his wife and his mistress – raising a host of privacy concerns from residents.

OC Public Works crews stopped their planned vegetation trimming and removal of San Juan and Trabuco creeks after the California Department of Fish and Wildlife raised concerns with the issue and scheduled a meeting about the county’s creek maintenance plans. 

The abrupt halt in creek landscaping comes after local activists raised concerns about the use of pesticides in the waterways, leading to a pause in the chemical’s use and an unclear future about what exactly future maintenance will look like. 

OC Board of Education Trustee Mari Barke is facing more than $81,000 in penalties after failing to report millions of dollars in income during her tenure on the board. 

Santa Ana City Council members are formally opposing the county’s planned halfway house – a place to reintegrate newly released inmates back into society – as officials say the city already shoulders the brunt of such services in Orange County.  

Stanton officials are continuing the city’s emergency declaration on homelessness in an effort to get more people off the streets – something city staff say is working after noting an over 50% decrease in the local homeless population. 

City council members also overhauled Stanton’s regulations on vacant properties in an effort to keep the buildings maintained so they don’t become a magnet for trespassing and squatting – with some property owners facing up to $10,000 in annual fees, depending on the condition of the building.

La Habra officials are eying banning kratom and whippets while they also take a hard look at smoke shops throughout the city – retailers that regularly sell such drugs – through a moratorium issued on the shops as they consider a citywide cap on the businesses.   

A host of dogs and cats are available for adoption at OC Animal Care as feline adoption fees are reduced to $100 on the weekdays this month.