Republicans hold tight to reins of majority-Democrat O.C. Board of Supervisors

With the swearing-in Tuesday of former Santa Ana Mayor Vicente Sarmiento to the Orange County Board of Supervisors, the governing body officially shifted to a Democrat majority for the first time in nearly half a century.

Yet during an annual reorganization during the board’s regular meeting, minority Republicans maintained their grasp on leadership of the panel, as supervisors Don Wagner and Andrew Do were narrowly appointed chair and vice chair, respectively.

The motion to nominate the two GOP supervisors together as a slate was made by outgoing Chair Doug Chaffee, a Democrat reelected to a second term in November, and subsequently approved by a 3-2 vote among Chaffee, Wagner and Do.

County Supervisor Andrew Do at an Aug. 10, 2021 meeting of the Orange County Board of Supervisors. Do was appointed vice chair for the second time in three years by a 3-2 vote Tuesday.

(Kevin Chang / Staff Photographer)

That act bypassed a seniority-based rotation — intended to offer supervisors from all five districts equal opportunity to serve in leadership roles — that would have seen Supervisor Katrina Foley appointed as vice chair.

“I’m slightly disappointed, but it’s not going to stop me from doing the work voters elected me to do,” Foley said Wednesday. “I also think we missed an opportunity as a county board to show the community we can serve in a bipartisan capacity.”

Although it is ultimately up to supervisors to determine who will serve as chair and vice chair for the following year, most bodies adhere to a rotation schedule. Speaking in comments before the vote, Sarmiento attempted to nominate Foley as vice chair based on that reasoning.

Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley, at an event at Costa Mesa’s Orange Coast College in November, said Wednesday she was disappointed at being bypassed for vice chair of the county board.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

“For most public agency bodies, when it comes to rotating leadership, it is based upon courtesy, it is based upon making sure everybody has an opportunity to represent the board as chair and vice chair,” he said. “It’s the logic I’ve used as a mayor and council member and in most of the other agencies I’ve served.”

Until Tuesday’s vote, that logic governed the leadership appointments of supervisors as well. Wagner served as vice chair last year, and Chaffee was vice chair in 2021 before being appointed chair in 2022.

Do, who served as the board’s chairman in 2021, was also vice chair in the year prior.

But Chaffee, after explaining he would open the floor to all nominations before taking a vote, left no room for Sarmiento’s alternative, instead nominating Wagner and Do together and calling for a vote.

Orange County Supervisor Doug Chaffee speaks at and event at Fountain Valley’s Mile Square Park in July 2021.

(Scott Smeltzer / Staff Photographer)

The supervisor explained his decision in a statement following Tuesday’s vote, declining to offer further comment.

“I voted for Supervisor Andrew Do to be our vice chairman because he began the large county projects that are currently underway,” Chafee’s statement read. “In his last years in office, I hope he can continue to lead us in our efforts. I also look forward to working with all my supervisor colleagues on these joint initiatives going forward.”

Ada Briceño, chair of the Democratic Party of Orange County, said Republicans trying to hold onto the reins of a majority Democrat body does not reflect the will of the voters.

“I think it was an attempt to remain the same, but that’s not what Orange County voters wanted,” she said Wednesday. “This is the first time we have a Democratic majority on the board since 1976 — we’re going to work hard to make sure Democrats represent our values on that board.”

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