ORANGE COUNTY LEGISLATIVE WATCH B y C hip A hlswede
June Primaries, and Local Realities
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usinesses — and especially multifamily housing businesses — in California find themselves within the constantly increasing reach of “Big Brother.” Long gone are the days of California’s “Gold Rush” for most businesses that feel more like they are getting “Punk’d” with each legislative session. With a constant stream of “Catfish” candidates that make Sacramento one big season of “Survivor,” it’s hard not to feel “Alone.” Sadly, today’s legislative realities feel more like a reality TV show, than they do actual reality. Elections are our opportunity to affect that. There are two key elections this year in which we will have an opportunity to make that change — our June 7th Primary election, and our November 8th General Election. While we will have the opportunity to vote for governor and the other State Constitutional officers, as well as our State Senators and Assembly members, our real chance to make a difference is going to be at the local level. With a little help, we can feel a little less “Naked and Afraid.” So, let’s look first at our County Supervisor Races, a.k.a. “Keeping Up with the Kardashians.”
Riverside County — “Running Wild”
The Riverside County Board of Supervisors recently had a number of very contentious votes related primarily to the governance of the county, that appear to reflect a clear and growing
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Apartment News
partisan divide among the board members. Normally, in an election like this — with three seats up for election — changing the partisan divide can be a strong driver for a number of organizations. However, only one of these races is contested. Do you have any thoughts on who supports the multifamily Industry best?
General Election.
Orange County — “Deadliest Catch”
Districts Two & Four — “Dual Survival”
Incumbents Karen Spiegel (District Two), and former Assemblymember and appointed Supervisor Manuel “Manny” Perez (District Four) drew no opponents for this year’s election, so…congratulations supervisors! Both will return for their second terms on the board.
After considering a number of redistricting proposals, the Orange County Board of Supervisors settled on one that basically jumbles everything up. We will have a newly drawn second district that opens up a race with many candidates from around the county seat of Santa Ana. The fourth district in the north of Orange County brings into further alignment several major cities — Fullerton, Buena Park, and Brea. Down south, however, the fifth district pits several major community leaders against one another, which will make the June election very interesting.
District Five — “Summer House”
District Two — “Making the Cut”
This election will get interesting, and will most likely jump over from the summer to a runoff in the fall. Supervisor Jeff Hewitt is also running for re-election. However, in the Fifth District, he will have three challengers, including Riverside Mayor Yxstian Gutierrez and Beaumont Mayor Lloyd White. They are joined by Democratic candidate and attorney Deni Mazingo, out of Hemet, who previously ran in 2018 and 2020 for the 42nd Assembly District. With so many seasoned candidates in this race, the Primary Election in June will almost certainly lead to a runoff in November. If no candidate is able to secure 50% + 1 of the vote, the top two vote getters will face off in the
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May 2022
In what will likely be one of the most challenging elections this June, a crowded field of five candidates are running to represent Orange County’s Second Supervisorial District. Orange City Councilmember Jon Dumitru, a longtime supporter of small business, property rights, and the rental-housing industry has already received the support of AAOC’s Political Action Committee. Meanwhile, Santa Ana Mayor Vicente Sarmiento, one of the city’s rent control and just cause eviction architects, is also running for the seat along with former Santa Ana city councilmembers Cecilia Iglesias and Juan Villegas. Rounding out the field is Garden Grove City Watch — continued on page 12
