Orange County Board Of Supervisors

Wrapping up a two-day planning session for the coming year's budget, Orange County supervisors on Wednesday decided to kill funding for the county film commission but let the tourism council live. The two agencies have been on the chopping block for years, as the county has increasingly moved away from funding activities that promote Orange County.

Orange County supervisors on Tuesday backed away from some of the biggest proposed cuts in the county's budget for the coming year, saying they would rather try to find the money to pay for drug-court counselors and emergency doctors and hospitals who treat uninsured patients. The board also voted to set aside $850,000 to cover three years' worth of lost tax collections from boaters at Dana Point Harbor.

Orange County Supervisor John Moorlach bought an $8,990 desk for the reception foyer of his office, and spent $10,300 on shelving in the supply room. Supervisor Patricia Bates bought a $3,375 conference table, and a $1,200 executive high-back chair. Supervisor Janet Nguyen installed $1,300 worth of track lighting with a dimmer switch. County Treasurer Chriss Street spent nearly $50,000 on 90 office chairs from the high-concept Herman Miller design line.

Orange County supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to move forward with the creation of a civilian commission that would review misconduct complaints against county law enforcement. The board agreed to spend two months fine-tuning details of the proposal before giving final approval, a concession to the sheriff, district attorney and some board members who criticized the current version.

Orange County supervisors are scheduled to vote today on a proposal to create a civilian review panel that would investigate allegations of abuse by sheriff's deputies and recommend policy changes in the department. The proposal comes after inmates beat a fellow prisoner to death in October in Orange County's Theo Lacy jail, an attack that went on for half an hour without intervention from deputies, who serve as guards. Six inmates were charged with the murder of John Chamberlain.

After several booming years of big tax revenues produced by Orange County's red-hot housing market, the slowing real estate business is forcing county supervisors to make tough choices in their spending plan for the coming year, according to county documents made public on Monday. While overall spending on programs, services and projects is expected to increase 6.2% -- to $5.

Orange County supervisors are poised to vote today on a plan to regulate medical marijuana use, wading into a controversial -- and emotionally charged -- area of unsettled law. The proposal, if adopted, would create a system to issue identification cards to patients eligible to use marijuana, as well as validate prescriptions and monitor the qualifications of medical care providers that dispense the drug.

After a marathon election battle that required a judge to determine who won, a beaming Janet Nguyen, Orange County's first Vietnamese American supervisor, was sworn in Tuesday. Nguyen, also the youngest supervisor in county history, received a bouquet and a standing ovation from an audience dotted with supporters from Little Saigon -- Orange County's Vietnamese community.

A judge ruled Monday that Janet Nguyen won the February election for an Orange County Board of Supervisors seat by a slim three-vote margin, rejecting arguments by her opponent that a recount wasn't completed because the paper audit of electronically cast ballots was not counted manually. "All the votes were counted," said Orange County Superior Court Judge Michael Brenner. "There was a full and legal recount."

A judge on Friday overturned the Orange County registrar of voters' decision on four recounted ballots cast in a February Board of Supervisors race, leaving Janet Nguyen just three votes ahead of opponent Trung Nguyen. Superior Court Judge Hugh Michael Brenner's rulings put to rest one of the two main arguments in Trung Nguyen's attempt to invalidate the recount, which overturned his Feb. 3 election-day victory.