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Orange County supervisors defer Fire Authority appointment after district representation dispute
Summary
Supervisors voted to continue only the Orange County Fire Authority appointment to the next meeting after Vice Chair Katrina Foley argued that the Fifth District should retain continuity on the authority board; the rest of the slate of appointments was approved.
Vice Chair Katrina Foley asked the Board of Supervisors to reconsider the chair’s appointment to the Orange County Fire Authority, saying the Fifth District has historically provided the county supervisor seat on the authority and citing public-safety continuity for high-wildfire-risk communities.
Foley said the Fifth District includes ‘‘some of the highest fire risk areas’’ and warned that removing a representative from the district would ‘‘undo decades of precedent and rightful representation” for residents. Multiple board members debated precedent, constituent coverage and the limits of the chair’s appointment power.
Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento moved to continue consideration of only the Orange County Fire Authority appointment to the board’s next meeting so the chair’s office and district offices could meet. The motion was seconded and passed after a roll call: Sarmiento and Foley voted yes; Supervisor Winn, Supervisor Wagner and Chair Doug Chaffee voted no. The board approved the remaining appointments on the consent calendar.
The board did not take the appointment for OCFA at this meeting; the item was continued for further discussion and potential alternative nominees. The clerk recorded that the set-aside appointment will return at the board’s next regular meeting.
