Democratic Club

By Mary Larson

LW contributor

Costa Mesa Mayor Katrina Foley, the Democratic Party’s endorsed candidate for election to the Orange County Board of Supervisors, was the keynote speaker at the LW Democratic Club’s January membership meeting. She began her presentation by outlining how the current COVID- 19 pandemic was personally affecting her family. Club members on the Zoom call instantly identified with the mayor as she talked about how the members of her four-generation household (including her mother and 94-year-old grandmother) were taking measures to protect themselves from exposure to the virus. She followed this very personal account with a review of what she would do as a board member in overseeing the county’s response to the pandemic.

As mayor of Costa Mesa, Foley has established lasting relationships at the city, county, state and federal level. She is committed to bringing these attributes to bear at the county level. During the meeting, she indicated that one of her special concerns centered on the mental health problems associated with the current pan- demic. She shared that the Board of Supervisors has approximately $600 million earmarked for mental health that it is not releasing. The County is required to hold one years’ worth of these funds supplied by the state in reserve, but have decided to hold back three years of expenditure due to economic prudence. At a time when so many are suffering mental health problems due to the pandemic and other factors, Foley feels it would be appropriate to immediately release some of the funds for their intended purpose.

In addition to Foley, there are three Republican men and another Democratic woman who seek to replace Michelle Steel as the District 2 representative on the Board of Supervisors in the election on March 9. The Republican candidates are John Moorlach, who lost re-election to a state Senate seat in November; Newport Beach Councilman Kevin Muldoon; and Fountain Valley Mayor Michael Vo. Janet Rappaport, the only other Democrat running in this nonpartisan race, has not responded to requests for information, but she does have a campaign website.

For more information about how to be involved in this upcoming special election, readers are invited to email democraticclubsblw@ gmail.com.

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Club members are reminded to join or renew their membership. Both new and renewal 2021 membership forms are available by calling (562) 431-7275 or by going online at https://sblwdems. wordpress.com/democratic-clubmembership- 2/.