A Slice of Orange
Stagione 1
di Jodi Balma
Councilman Moreno represents Anaheim's third district which encompasses much of the North Central region. Before his election to the city council, he served on the school board of 8 years. He is an associate professor of Chicano and Latino Studies at California State University, Long Beach. He has served on the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering, the Association of American Colleges & Universities Making Excellence Inclusive project, and the Western Association of Schools & Colleges Student Success Task Force. Dr. Moreno has also served as the president of the Latino community organization Los Amigos of Orange County and on the Anaheim police chief's advisory board and the boards of directors of the Orange County Community Housing Corporation, a housing and education support organization for low-income families, and Orange County Communities for Responsible Development, an organization that promotes the inclusion of working families and immigrant communities in public decision-making.
Tony Saavedra is an investigative reporter specializing in legal affairs for the Orange County Register. His work has been recognized by the National Headliner Club, the Associated Press Sports Editors, the California Newspaper Publishers Association, the Orange County Trial Lawyers Association and the Orange County Press Club. His stories have led to the closure of a chain of badly-run group homes, the end of a state program that placed criminals in inappropriate public jobs and the creation of a civilian oversight office for the Orange County Sheriff's Department, among other things. Saavedra has covered the Los Angeles riots, the O.J. Simpson case, the downfall of Orange County Sheriff-turned felon Michael S. Carona and the use of unauthorized drugs by Olympian Carl Lewis. Saavedra has worked as a journalist since 1979 and has held positions at several Southern California newspapers before arriving at the Orange County Register in 1990. He graduated from California State University, Fullerton, in 1981 with a bachelor of arts in communication.
Not very many people know what a community college district does, let alone what it is! In this episode, we talk to Miguel Alvarez who is running for the board, and details his candidacy, his campaign, and why you should care about who gets elected to your community college board. Miguel is an education policy expert and advocate. He was raised right here in North Orange County and is an alumnus of Fullerton College and UCLA. If elected, Miguel will be the first openly LGBT+ Latinx trustee on the North Orange County Community College District board.
Sharon Quirk-Silva is a mother, teacher, former Mayor of Fullerton, and Member of the California State Assembly. Sharon has deep ties to Orange County. Sharon came to Fullerton when she was two, was educated in Orange County public schools, and earned her degrees from Fullerton College, UCLA, and CSU Fullerton. She found a passion for education, serving as a classroom teacher for more than thirty years. Education is a family affair. Her husband Jesus Silva, who is also on the Fullerton City Council, teaches math at Nicolas Junior High School and her four children all attended local public schools.
Lauren is a seasoned public school teacher who successfully earned a spot on the Fullerton Joint Union High School District board--surprising many by beating two well-known candidates by simply out-working them and taking nothing for granted. In this episode, Lauren tells us what it means to be the underdog in a campaign and the power that school board members have in our community.
Ahmad represents Fullerton's 5th City Council district. He made headlines when he shocked the political world with his election to the council, being the first openly-gay elected council member. As if that wasn't enough of a barrier-breaking accomplishment, Ahmad is a doctor, film-maker, and a Syrian immigrant. In this podcast, we talk to Ahmad about his life and what motivated him to run.
Jodi talks to Grant Henninger, a local activist in Anaheim, California who attempted a run for Anaheim City Council from the notoriously conservative Anaheim Hills district. He is active in his community and serves on various city commissions.
We're kicking off this podcast to put local politics in focus. Why North Orange County? Because it all happens here--North Orange County is where both former state Sen. John Briggs--the author of California's Proposition 6, the so-called Briggs Initiative, that would have allowed teachers to be fired for being homosexual and admitting to that fact--was from. But, in the same generation, it is also the place where a gay, Syrian refugee was elected to City Council. This is a different kind of podcast. We're going to interview elected officials, local commissioners, party leaders, interest groups, and activists on both sides of the aisle. Who is making the decisions and how they arrived there impact your community more than, believe it or not, who becomes President of the United States. So get ready because we're going to deep dive and peel away the political world of North Orange County, slice by slice. And, of course, we're going to have great stories, good laughs, and lots of fun along the way.