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In the aftermath of the resignation of Supervisor Andrew Do and his plea agreement admitting to bribery, federal prosecutors, the OC District Attorney and his former colleagues on the board of supervisors made one thing clear this week.
It is not over.
“Today was important,” Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento said in a Tuesday interview on the steps of the county administration building Tuesday afternoon. “Now comes the hard part.”
Do formally resigned his seat on the board Tuesday morning as federal prosecutors and Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer announced he’d agreed to plead guilty to a felony bribery charge, admitting to accepting over $700,000 in bribes to enrich himself and his extended family.
[Read: OC Supervisor Andrew Do Charged With Corruption by Federal Prosecutors]
“His dream of America has now become a nightmare for Orange County taxpayers,” Spitzer said at Tuesday’s news conference. “Corruption of any kind will not be tolerated … this investigation is far from over.”
Federal prosecutors also said the investigation continues.
Do’s attorney, Paul Meyer, said Tuesday it’s still too early to comment on the situation.
“However, it is appropriate to convey Andrew Do’s sincere apology and deep sadness to his family, to his constituents in District One and to his colleagues,” Meyer said in an email statement.
‘Systemic Problems’
At their Tuesday meeting, Sarmiento and Supervisor Katrina Foley spoke about the need to implement protocols and reforms to shield the county and protect taxpayers from any future misuse of public funds.
“We will continue to investigate any further actions coming out of district one, and I know that our board as a whole is committed to implementing reforms and protocols that will prevent something like this from ever happening again in the county of Orange,” Foley said.
Sarmiento called it a sad day for the county.
“We know it doesn’t begin and end with one office. It doesn’t begin and end with one person,” he said. “I don’t think that we should just breathe a sigh of relief, because we know that there are some systemic problems with the way the county has functioned.”
But neither one of them had clear answers on what those next steps for reform might look like.
Sarmiento said they needed to study how to end a “culture that allowed abuse.”
“The system did not have sufficient guard rails,” Sarmiento said in an interview, adding that there were ongoing audits reviewing more of what happened that would inform the county’s response.
What Kind of Reforms Can Be Made?
Foley pointed out how the county’s civil lawsuit against Do’s daughter, Rhiannon Do, and the nonprofit Viet America Society, where Do sent millions of dollars of county funding, was still ongoing and likely remains the county’s only chance at getting the tax money back.
But she also said that many of the necessary reforms have already come, pointing to several contracting reforms adopted by the board last month like having the county’s procurement office review discretionary contracts moving forward.
“I think the package of reforms my office proposed and the board voted on will cover most all of this,” Foley said.
She said one of her remaining priorities is making it easier for county employees to report problems via hotline, saying former Health Care Agency Director Clayton Chau knew about the problems with Do’s spending but kept it under wraps.
“I think that piece we still need to work on,” Foley said. “I’m not sure what that looks like … it wasn’t just this where we saw a long delay before the board was informed about failure to comply.”
Chau said he was offended by Foley’s claim, pushing back in a text on Tuesday afternoon.
“I am not sure why she would say that when the contracts for meals was never under health care agency,” Chau wrote. “I don’t know which agency they would fall under. Doesn’t she?”
Foley pointed out Chau was responsible for managing contracts with the Warner Wellness Center, which she noted staff raised concerns about when Rhiannon Do got involved.
Chau denied ever overseeing that contract.
In a Tuesday afternoon phone interview, Supervisor Don Wagner disputed the need for more regulations but encouraged county staff who see wrongdoing to speak up.
“To any county employee I would say if you get that pressure from a supervisors’ office, you say no and you report it,” Wagner said. “Try as you might, you can’t pass a law against bad judgment. All you can do is empower folks who see it to say something.”
Supervisor Doug Chaffee, who once called Do his “mentor,” did not return requests for comment, but issued a short statement saying the case “highlights the critical need for ethical leadership.”
Calls For Accountability
Tuesday’s comments from supervisors came within hours of the U.S. District Attorney’s Office announcing that Do was charged with – and agreed to plead guilty to – a conspiracy to commit bribery.
The charges against Do come after his home was raided by federal agents in August and after County lawyers sued his daughter and other leaders of the nonprofit Viet America Society for allegedly embezzling millions of tax dollars to buy homes – including one for his daughter.
[Read: Orange County Sues County Supervisor’s Daughter and Nonprofit Over Missing COVID Money]
The money was intended to be used to help feed seniors amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Do’s plea agreement and resignation also landed two weeks before the Nov. 5 election in which Cypress City Councilwoman Frances Marquez and State Senator Janet Nguyen face off to succeed Do as the District 1 supervisor.
In a Tuesday statement, Marquez said district residents want transparency and ethics restored at the board of supervisors.
“Under Do, our most vulnerable seniors did not receive the meals they desperately needed during a deadly pandemic. For how long do our residents need to pay the consequences for our representatives’ corruption?,” reads the statement.
Marquez has also spoken at public meetings, calling for reforms like creating an office to vet businesses and nonprofits seeking county funding and contracts.
Nguyen said in a statement on social media that taxpayers have every right to be outraged by Do.
“The county needs to aggressively seek out wrongdoing with full transparency then reform its operations,” reads her Tuesday statement.
They are not the only elected leaders criticizing Do.
In an email statement Tuesday, Congressman Lou Correa said anyone involved in the scheme to defraud taxpayers should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.
“Corruption leads to loss of confidence in all our democratically elected officials. These federal funds were COVID relief funds meant to feed our hungry Orange County neighbors, seniors, and others, through the American Rescue Plan Act,” reads his statement.
“They were to help the needy—and it’s clear these funds never made it to those who needed them. This is morally reprehensible and criminal.”
In August, Correa called on U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and U.S. Secretary of Treasury Janet Yellen to investigate allegations against the Viet America Society and their alleged misuse of public funds.
State Assemblyman Avelino Valencia said in a Tuesday statement that the OC Board of Supervisors opposed a bill he authored – AB 2946 – that will require a majority vote of the county’s board of supervisors to award discretionary funds to nonprofit groups.
That bill goes into effect next year.
“Our community deserves leaders dedicated to ethical governance and responsible stewardship of public resources. Today’s announcement underscores our commitment to rooting out corruption and holding those who defraud the public accountable,” reads his statement.
Meanwhile in Little Saigon, community groups including VietRise, the Harbor Institute and Orange County Justice Fund put out a joint statement saying Do’s agreement to plead guilty and resign is just the first step to justice.
“We call for restitution of the misappropriated funds to support the community it was meant to serve. Community members have lost their savings, their livelihoods, and their homes. Orange County residents deserve real justice for the harm Andrew Do and his conspirators have caused,” reads the Tuesday statement.
“Do did not do this alone.”
Santa Ana Mayor Valerie Amezcua said in a Tuesday evening statement that Do’s plea agreement is a necessary step towards accountability.
“His resignation raises critical questions about the systems in place and I urge the Board of Supervisors to embrace this moment as an opportunity for reflection and reform,” she said.
“As Mayor, I will work with the City Manager and his Executive Management Team to safeguard the City’s current protocols and vet the mechanisms in place to avoid similar incidents at City Hall.”
Santa Ana Councilwoman Thai Viet Phan – the city’s first Vietnamese elected official – lambasted Do in a Tuesday afternoon statement.
“It is shameful that Mr. Do and his circle of accomplices represented the Vietnamese American community,” she said.
“We will not allow the stain of Mr. Do’s actions to color the great achievements of our Little Saigon community, many of whom fled the Vietnam War and came here as penniless refugees.”
Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @NBiesiada.
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.
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