by Thomas Fielder On March 21, Judge David A. Hoffer issued his “Proposed Statement of Decision” regarding the case of People’s Homeless Task Force Orange County v. City of Anaheim and SRB Management, LLC, in which the city has been accused of violating the Brown Act in negotiating the sale of about 150 acres of land surrounding Angel Stadium. Judge Hoffer’s statement is flawed and self-contradictory in a number of ways. A large part of his reasoning stands on the assumption that the decision to sell a property is “inextricably intertwined” with the price and payment terms that one might hope to obtain, should one decide to sell. Excuse me? We can be fairly confident that 99% of homeowners in ...

  by Shannon Goodman and Thomas Mitchell Medication-assisted treatment saves lives, but it is not fully accepted or understood. Despite spending hundreds of millions of dollars combatting homelessness, Orange County still has a street population of at least 7,000 people. The issue persists, in part, due to a stubborn connection between chronic homelessness and active addiction. The Federal government, state of California, and Orange County have attempted to break that connection by investing in and advocating for the use of Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT), a widely accepted clinical approach that prescribes FDA-approved drugs to curb cravings and reduce withdrawal symptoms while a patient is in recovery. But while MAT has been hailed as the “gold standard” treatment for opioid addiction, it ...

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A homeless encampment in San Clemente in July 2021. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC by Brandon Pho and Hosam Elattar Two months after CalTrans forced a camp of homeless people off state agency property just below south Orange County, advocates say many remain out on the streets. This is after county officials and elected leaders made assurances, in the weeks leading up to the encampment removal on Aug. 27, that those staying on the property located right under the City of San Clemente would get connected with services and support. OC Health Care Agency officials claim they’ve since engaged at least 26 people from the encampment “over the course of six weeks,” and connected them at one ...

Thomas Fielder BY THOMAS FIELDER The prevalence of people who lack a home and live on the streets of Orange County is nearly impossible to ignore and now consistently ranks as the number one concern of its residents. This is a story about some of the individuals and organizations who are volunteering their time and efforts to help unhoused folks and pressure the county’s leaders to ensure an adequate supply of affordable housing. I have centered the story around food distribution because it is one of the most effective forms of outreach and engagement. When your Ph.D. research involves human subjects, it is inevitably exploitative and extractive to some degree. And when your research subjects are living without a fixed abode, ...