Audio above is unedited per the League of Women Voters requirements. The transcript and any errors are by Saskia Kennedy. 

MODERATOR (JODI BALMA): I teach political science here at Fullerton College, and I’m also representing the League tonight as the moderator for the League of Women Voters of North Orange County. I really want to thank the candidates for coming and sharing their time during this incredibly busy week — ballots are dropping this week — in campaign season.

I welcome you to the next forum and thank the audience for participating. If you need an index card to ask a question, we have them circulating. You’re welcome to ask. And then our question sorters here, our team from the League of Women Voters, are sorting through and eliminating duplicate questions. Any attack or rumor-based questions get sorted out. That apparently is what online is for these days. We keep the League of Women Voters hopefully public policy-based. So as a League member, I’m proud to represent the League of Women Voters, a trusted nonpartisan political organization that’s been active for over 100 years. There were a couple of questions about the League, and luckily I have some answers.

We are a nonpartisan organization. We do not endorse candidates. We offer voter education and services through these kinds of candidate forums.

As I was telling the candidates, this is one of our busiest weeks, because we have a candidate forum Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, all around North Orange County. And so we are trying to get as much information to voters as possible and to give an opportunity for you to ask questions of the candidates on the ballot. So we are directly involved in shaping the important issues that keep our community strong and informed. As a League member, it’s been my honor to contribute to events like this. I encourage you, if you’re interested — particularly my students — to get involved with the League. We have free student memberships. They’re an incredible group who have been so supportive of young people in the community getting involved. And you can help the community with events like this to have an impact on local, state, and even national issues if you learn more. So the table out there has information about the League of Women Voters.

So just to quickly go over the rules. I’m going to ask everybody to put electronic devices away, including our candidates. And though we only have two, we drew a random order of who gets to go first. And so Tim Shaw is going to start with opening statements, then Connor Traut. We will rotate.

The opening statements are two minutes for each candidate, and then we’ll ask questions that you have submitted from the audience. We do not prepare the questions. We do not provide the questions. So the audience asks the questions. Each candidate gets one minute to answer.

This is not a debate, so there is no back and forth. They are just answering the questions. And then at the end, we’ll close, and we’re going to close at 6:32, candidates. That is plenty of information going back and forth with only one minute. And then closing statements, one minute each. So if there’s any recording, our FPPC and League rules are that it cannot be edited in any way. It has to be displayed in its entirety. So, last point: hold the applause to the end. I will ask boisterous, disruptive people to be removed. I can’t imagine that would be a problem with you fine people. So let’s get started. Tim Shaw, two minutes, and our timekeepers start the clock.

OPENING STATEMENTS

TIM SHAW: Great. All right. Well, good evening, everybody. It’s great to be with you all. My name’s Tim Shaw. Great to be at a community college. I actually went to Mt. SAC. My wife went to Fullerton College, and I’ve been a teacher at Rio Hondo College for over 20 years, so a big supporter of the community college system. I’m presently the president of the Orange County Board of Education and have held that office here for the last six years. Formerly, I was on the La Habra City Council and mayor of La Habra. Served there for over a decade. So I’ve been in elected office for about 18 years. So I live right up the road in La Habra. My wife and I just completed 21 years of marriage and have our six boys. Never could get the girl. Six for six in the boy department. But once upon a time, I worked for the Orange County government. I was a policy aide to County Supervisor Janet Nguyen. And my father spent his career working for the Orange County Health Care Agency. He was a drug and alcohol abuse counselor. So the Orange County government has meant a lot to me personally and in my family. And so, having this opportunity with our current supervisor terming out, decided to throw my hat in the ring, so to speak, and appreciate your support. Thank you.

MODERATOR: Thank you. Connor, two minutes.

CONNOR TRAUT: All right. Good evening, everyone. Connor Traut, proud mayor of Buena Park, and hopefully earning your support at the end of this evening to serve as your next county supervisor. First, before I start, just wanted to give a shout-out. My wife, Cheyenne, is here. Today is our seven-year wedding anniversary, so thank you for loaning me out tonight for this important moment to talk with all of you. [unclear] called home and are choosing to raise our son here. He’s two and a half years old, and luckily we got child care coverage tonight. But a lot of the things that we’ve seen in our generation is that folks just can’t afford to live here unless you have two incomes, unless you have other help from other people, unless you have really a system that works for you and gives you opportunities. And the Orange County Dream is something that I very much have benefited from, and my parents have as well. My dad and stepmother are here this evening too, and I want to do my part to help preserve what makes Orange County special while also adapting to the issues of today. We see that so many in our community are under attack at the federal level, and we need to do our part to protect our marginalized communities. We need to do our part to make sure that our environment is protected for future generations, so that my son grows up and lives in a place where he can thrive and be healthy. We need to ensure that public health becomes a priority again, and we identify the areas where folks need that support. Where public safety means not only officers on the streets, but it means economic development and opportunity for all of us. So I hope throughout tonight’s conversation, you learn a little bit more about the plans and vision I have for our region of the county. And I look forward to getting to know the rest of you as well. So thank you for being here, for your attentiveness. I hope you participate and write questions, because your voice matters. Thank you.

QUESTIONS

MODERATOR: Thank you. So, questions, one minute each. Connor, you get the first question. What would you do in your first 100 days?

CONNOR TRAUT: Yeah, first 100 days, for me, it’s pivotal to move fast, to set foundations for some of the changes that I think this county has lacked on. Let’s start with homelessness. Homelessness in this county — our region has done an incredible job, and I’m sure there’s going to be questions on homelessness, so I’ll only put some gravity to it — on building shelters. We haven’t really done our part to prevent homelessness to the extent that we can, especially among young people, who we know are often living in their cars, can’t afford to pay rent or have food on the table. These are the basic goods and basic needs in our community. And in the first hundred days, I’m going to be working with county department leaders, bringing to light the issues that people have brought up to me throughout the past two years of this campaign. Also building a staff that reflects the diversity and strength of North Orange County.

MODERATOR: Thank you. Tim Shaw, same question. What would you do in your first 100 days?

TIM SHAW: Yeah, you get to hire a staff, so that is a very important time. I was hired once upon a time. But, you know, we’ve had a real problem in the county in the recent past with county supervisors behaving unethically. [unclear] make sure that we’re setting that bar very high for ourselves and our conduct. We’ve had a problem nationally, people seeing government wasting money and fraud and other misuses of taxpayer money. So I’m very interested in making sure that we are using technology and doing anything we can to root out waste and abuse of the taxpayer dollars. Thank you.

MODERATOR: So with only two people, you don’t get a break, because now Tim Shaw gets the first question. What would you do to protect residents from potentially dangerous environmental hazards like the chemical leak in Garden Grove?

TIM SHAW: Yeah, I mean, you have to work with the federal and state agencies as well. OSHA and these other agencies are requiring that workplace safety is a paramount concern. We want to make sure our workers and the public are protected. You know, the health care agency we have is a terrific one at the county. So, you want to make sure chemicals and other things like that are not being exposed to the public in any way that’s harmful. Thank you.

MODERATOR: Connor.

CONNOR TRAUT: So I’m mayor of a city that was one of the cities that had some residents who had to evacuate, the south end of our city in Buena Park. And I think it’s important to have a leader that responds quickly. I was someone who, instantly, when folks were being told they had to evacuate, put together a list of the hotels that we had in our city, calling around, utilizing city staff in our city to ensure that we were posting where we had rooms available. We utilized city funds to help make sure people were housed. We opened up, in a matter of hours, a shelter and resource center. And I also served on the Fire Authority board for the county, so I made sure I was on site getting the briefings, sharing factual information with the community. Now, coming out of this, we need to hold folks and wrongdoers accountable, like GKN and any business, making sure if they’re causing either harm or risk to our community, we work alongside state regulators to uncover the issues and enforce it.

MODERATOR: Thank you. Next question to Connor Traut. How might you address inequities and disparities present within given communities such as Anaheim?

CONNOR TRAUT: Can you repeat the question?

MODERATOR: So it just says inequities within — so I’ll repeat it. How might you address inequities and disparities present within given communities such as Anaheim?

CONNOR TRAUT: Yeah, Anaheim’s a good shining example for inequities, because we see that they have what some elected officials in Anaheim call — the fireworks at Disneyland are Anaheim’s cash register every time they’re going off. The reality is, their city, based on how many dollars come in, their streets should be paved in gold. But the folks who are the poorest and lowest income work there and live closest to Disney. We need to make sure that we have a county supervisor that supports organized labor and good, fair wages for folks who need it. We need to make sure that we have someone who advocates to City Hall in Anaheim to ensure that those resources — when the parking infrastructure bonds are paid off, which frees up hundreds of millions of dollars in Anaheim — get invested back into their communities. The role that the county can play: things like Measure M2 dollars to help with their roads, ensure that when those dollars are freed up, we partner with Anaheim to help be a catalyst for the change in those communities. We focus workforce development programs in the marginalized communities that are too often underserved. Stop sign is up. Could have gone a little more, but you get the gist. Thanks.

MODERATOR: Thank you. Tim Shaw.

TIM SHAW: Yeah, I mean, the government needs to treat everybody fairly and across the board. No better, no worse than your neighbors. So as far as how the government treats people, that’s what I’m all about. I agree with much of what Connor said. Measure M2 is a program in the Orange County Transportation Authority. It gives dollars back to the local cities so that they can pave their streets and roads. But I think the question might have been more geared towards things like policing, perhaps. I’m not sure if that’s where the gist was. But we want to make sure, obviously, police officers are always trained in being sensitive and equitable to how they treat all people when they come in contact with them. Thank you.

MODERATOR: And you get the next question. Where do you stand on the issue of giving supervisors power to remove poorly performing elected county officials?

TIM SHAW: Well, the countywide elected officials are elected by the voters, same as the supervisors. So I don’t know that we have provisions to impeach or anything like that, and if that would be appropriate. So, you know, if you do have a countywide elected official or someone like that who’s not performing well, I mean, it is important to maybe surround them with good staff, and maybe on the political side, if they’re up for re-election, support a new candidate.

CONNOR TRAUT: Yeah, so there’s two folks I’ll focus on. One of them is Andrew Do, for those that aren’t familiar. Former county supervisor, stole a bunch of money from public taxpayer dollars. He’s in federal prison right now. The role that the supervisor should play is encouraging independent investigations, bringing in outside investigators and resources. And it can’t just be self-policing on the Board of Supervisors. Also, the independently elected folks. A good example is our county treasurer. The Board of Supervisors took an action about a year ago that I support, which is removing a lot of the authorities and decision-making of the county treasurer, when we saw that there were real complaints of chaos and dysfunction in that office. I feel that the Board of Supervisors made the right decision to step in, protect public dollars, and hold an elected official accountable short of removing from office. They don’t have that authority.

MODERATOR: Okay, next question. Connor: With the uncertainty many immigrant and mixed-status families are experiencing right now, what would you do as an Orange County supervisor to make sure families feel safe accessing county services, participating in their communities, and seeking help without fear?

CONNOR TRAUT: I believe that all elected officials have a duty to serve all people in their communities, whether documented or not. And I’ve stood up to do that as a mayor. In our city, we stood up an immigration legal defense fund, where we were making sure that it was specifically for families that have children, that they have the legal representation that they need, so that they could have justice in what seems like an unjust time in our federal immigration system. I believe we have a duty not to cooperate with ICE or share data and information that should be protected. That is state law, and we must follow it. When I say we must follow it, I don’t just mean our county supervisor. I mean — I know that means our sheriff and sheriff’s department. That means our district attorney and district attorney’s office. As a county supervisor, this is a direct role I would play. And lastly, ensuring that no matter your immigration status, everyone deserves food on their plate and a roof over their head, especially children. And I believe in serving all people. Thank you.

MODERATOR: I can repeat it. It was long. Sure. With the uncertainty many immigrant and mixed-status families are experiencing right now, what would you do as an Orange County supervisor to make sure families feel safe accessing county services, participating in their communities, and seeking help without fear?

TIM SHAW: [unclear] So with that ability, I’d be more than happy to help anybody who’s trying to access county services.

MODERATOR: Okay, next question. What do you see as the particular strengths of your district? What do you see as particular deficits or problems in District 4?

TIM SHAW: Well, District 4 — when you look at the entire county, we do have a shortage of county parks. We’re kind of a park-poor part of the county up in North County, so we want to always fight for our fair resources on the park side. But we’ve got wonderful amenities throughout the 4th District. We have season passes to Knott’s Berry Farm, so we’re often dropping dollars off that way to Buena Park. You’re welcome, Connor.

CONNOR TRAUT: Thank you. We appreciate it.

TIM SHAW: Disneyland. You know, I think about all the great colleges we have here. So District 4, wonderful, and can even be better.

MODERATOR: Connor, what do you see as the particular strengths of your district? What do you see as particular deficits or problems?

CONNOR TRAUT: Yeah, I’d say some of the strengths are open spaces. Right here in Fullerton, we have Coyote Hills. I pledge to do my part to help preserve and protect Coyote Hills. This will be a significant issue within the first six months of my time in office. I’d say another strength is how we’ve built shelters to shelter folks who are our neighbors, who are homeless, who need a place to stay. I’d say we have so many strengths. We have so much wealth in North Orange County, but also the weakness is that disparity of that wealth. We know that we have pockets of great wealth that may have been passed down through generations, but we also have families who are struggling to make ends meet, with multiple families living in a home at a time. We see that our air quality doesn’t meet the high levels that South OC has. We have the freeways that intersect here. We have a landfill that’s closing that has methane that is being produced, and we need to ensure we have a supervisor who ensures not just that it’s closed well, but that the community is protected from the public health side and the environmental side. Thank you.

MODERATOR: Though nonpartisan, this board is often touted as having a majority Republican or majority Democratic. After the election, your party may not be the majority of the Board of Supervisors. How will you deal with that?

CONNOR TRAUT: Fortunately — first, on track record, I think, is important. The people who know me best are supporting me in this race, and that’s folks on both sides of the aisle at the local level. To me, that says a great deal about a track record of being able to work with all people. The fact that I have labor groups and business organizations supporting me, the fact that I have police and fire, I think that track record speaks well. On the Board of Supervisors itself, I’ve worked alongside — and because of the partisan makeup, so I’ll just be blunt, I’m a registered Democrat — two Republicans that are on the board now, Janet Nguyen and Don Wagner. I feel I work very well with Don on the Fire Authority board. We’ve always had great contact and communication with each other. And the same with Janet and me, on things we’ve served on over the years. For me, it’s about consistency and integrity and also civility. When you know where someone is on an issue, you know what to work around and where you can work with them well. I believe that’s what I’m going to do.

TIM SHAW: Yeah, I mean, you know, in my 18 years of elected office, I’ve had a lot of different colleagues. With the Orange County Board of Education, my four colleagues and our superintendent are not just my colleagues; they’re really my best friends. So I think I’ve gotten along very well with the people I’ve served with. When I was on the Orange County Transportation Authority board, that’s a 17-member board. So it was me and 16 others- Democrats and Republicans. I think I got along very well on that OCTA board as well. I also served for a number of years on the Orange County Sanitation District. That might be about the biggest board we have in the county. I think there’s 25 board members there, so you kind of serve with all kinds of people from across the county. I think people would report back that I’m a colleague of theirs that was always respectful. Thank you.

MODERATOR: Next question to Tim Shaw. What will you do to restore trust in and oversight of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department?

TIM SHAW: Yeah, I certainly value and support law enforcement. Sheriff Barnes actually has endorsed me, and I’ve known him a long time and worked well with him. So I think people want to know that their police department or their sheriff’s department is a group of people that are always upholding the law. They know the Constitution and people’s constitutional rights and don’t violate those ever when they’re having a law enforcement contact. So proper training, proper accountability if things do go wrong — those are important.

CONNOR TRAUT: Yeah, I’d say I think in this county, there is great trust in our law enforcement. Luckily, California has very high standards. Something called CALEA — just something to look into later. A lot of departments have this certification, this standard. Our training, I think, is top-notch in this county. I mentioned a little bit about immigration and some of the opinions I have there on not cooperating. But the reality is, this county has stepped up to innovate. This county has stepped up to pay its officers well, so they’re attracting officers and sheriff’s deputies. They’re attracting a lot of the best folks. And they’ve also invested in not just more officers on the streets when we talk about public safety, but also ensuring that we have mental health care professionals and social workers responding on non-emergency calls, making sure that we have experts who work with folks who are homeless responding on those calls. So I think Orange County has taken such a pragmatic and balanced approach to public safety, while ensuring that we uphold high standards and good training. Thank you.

MODERATOR: Next. What do you plan to do to protect your communities from the potential development of AI data centers, given that Los Angeles County has passed motions [unclear]?

CONNOR TRAUT: Yeah, so large-scale data centers. Clearly, we see the amount of electricity that they use, the amount of water that they use, the noise. We see those videos on TikTok and Instagram. I sure as heck wouldn’t want to live next to one of those large-scale data centers. I do not support them being built near homes. And I really believe that we need to do our part to strengthen local laws on the environmental and resource protection side. So it doesn’t mean not having them. So there’s small data centers all over the place, up and down the state. Those are not really the ones that I think are such a cause for concern. We’re talking about the ones that we see across this country nowadays. Do they produce a lot of good ongoing jobs? Doesn’t look like it. And so I’m on the side of making sure that our communities are protected from the noise pollution, that our resources are protected, and that our energy rates don’t get hiked up because these centers utilize so much of our precious resources.

TIM SHAW: Yeah, when you’re in elected office, and you get to make land use decisions, there’s a long list of things no one wants near them. Airports, prisons, sewage treatment plants. Now we’re going to have to put data centers on the list. Things that everyone needs, they just don’t want anywhere near their home. If we didn’t have data centers, you’d be — all you young people especially — “Dang it, my app is running really slow, what’s going on?” So, I mean, we need them; we just need them somewhere. You know, you look at a map of Orange County and think, gosh, where would you even think to put one, one of the really big ones he’s kind of talking about? So I don’t know that that would be appropriate or even feasible somewhere in Orange County that’s so developed already.

MODERATOR: Okay. Would you revise county policy to allow animal control to support catch-and-release of stray cats as an alternative to sterilization or euthanasia?

TIM SHAW: Sorry — oh, euthanasia. Yeah, euthanasia. Yeah, you hate to have the kill shelters. So anything I can do to avoid having the kill shelters, I’m supportive of, you know.

CONNOR TRAUT: Yeah, in Buena Park we utilize —, and I’ll bring it a little more back to the city, less the county, so not everyone uses the county — we use [unclear: animal control contractor]. I’ve been trying to do my part to end that contract, where it has high kill rates. I see it often when we’re talking about animals, and I know the question is more about just catching and releasing. I also think of protecting our wildlife. Our coyotes, all of our other animals that are a part of our ecosystem, that essentially humans came into after them. And having a county supervisor who prioritizes that — I’m a proud Eagle Scout, someone who’s always put environmental protections near the top of my list of priorities — and ensuring that we have a cultural change at animal control and how we approach animal control. It’s not to control; it’s to protect the environment we have. And also, when it comes to cats, the spay and neuter — to get to the question exactly — a spay and neuter approach we’ve seen has had great results without having to actually kill animals. MODERATOR: With a limited county budget, what would you prioritize funding, and what would you defund or decrease funding for?

CONNOR TRAUT: Did you say limited or unlimited?

MODERATOR: Limited.

CONNOR TRAUT: Limited. I was like, unlimited — that sounds wonderful. Could you read the question? I’m sorry.

MODERATOR: Yes, now that you don’t have a magic wand. With a limited county budget, what would you prioritize funding, and what would you defund or decrease funding for?

CONNOR TRAUT: Yeah. When you have limited funds, you try to think of what the purpose of the agency that you are serving in, or the role that you are in, is. For me, when we talk about local governments, cities, counties — first, we know our communities best. We know the communities better than Sacramento or D.C. And what are our basic functions and roles? It’s to make sure people are fed, people have a roof over their head, people are healthy, they have good health care, people are safe. So I would say that the programs and policies that fall under those umbrellas- that’s what gets the investment. See, at the county, what’s so unique is nearly 20,000 workers are at the county, and they’re the ones delivering services — eligibility workers getting you connected to resources you need. That’s important. The DA’s office and public defenders make sure we administer justice for this county. A well-funded court, a probation department that rehabilitates — that’s important. Homeless services. Roads, so they’re smooth. This is what we do well, and we should focus on what we do well, and do it best. Thank you.

TIM SHAW: Yeah, I mean, the purpose of local government, you know, is really public safety, making sure you have people safe in their communities. So that can and should always be the priority of local government. You know, I guess I have a very soft spot for drug and alcohol abuse, since my father had spent his career working on that, and that is one of the programs the county does, and it saves lives. Getting people off of drugs can save lives, so that is very important. Government can and should really invest in infrastructure. So streets, freeways, roads, the things that we need to live in a modern society: electricity, sanitation. Serving on a sanitation board was a lot of fun for everyone. You know, we live in a desert here in Southern California. We take our sewage and turn it into drinking water, and that’s quite an operation, and it’s been a fun thing to see really grow out there at the Orange County Sanitation District. Thank you.

MODERATOR: Okay. You’re both running to replace termed-out Supervisor Doug Chaffee. What program of his do you intend on continuing, and why?

TIM SHAW: Oh, do I lead off on that?

MODERATOR: Yes, sorry.

TIM SHAW: You know, I know that Doug very specifically was doing a gun buyback program. I thought that was pretty neat — if you have firearms in your house and you’re not really wanting them anymore, just to make sure that they are safely and properly returned to somebody.

MODERATOR: Okay.

CONNOR TRAUT: Yeah, I’d say something that Supervisor Chaffee has recently started — so, well, first, in this county, the Board of Supervisors and all the cities are really partnering together to push forward a veterans cemetery to be built in Anaheim. It’s wild that we don’t have one already here in Orange County. I’m going to support that. I think whoever serves on the board will support that. Going off of veteran services: Supervisor Chaffee in the last couple of months has been developing veteran services programs, where he’s partnering with our local federal legislators and also the VA to try to bring resources back here to Orange County. Our veterans community, especially in places like West Anaheim — West Anaheim has a very large veterans community. That’s a spot of high concentration. Identifying the folks who need our help — they’ve earned these resources; they’ve earned it for themselves and for their family. And I want to continue that program that he is in these early stages of starting and make sure that it is strong for our veterans and for their families. Thank you.

MODERATOR: Okay, next question. What does the county do that most people don’t know about, and what would you change? Connor first.

CONNOR TRAUT: I’d say what folks don’t really know is the county — gosh, there’s a lot of things the county does that are just awesome. I briefly touched on administering justice for the county, but I’m an attorney, and I actually got my start at a really young age, when I was 19, as a juvenile justice commissioner here in Orange County. So I was doing things like inspecting group homes, ACCESS schools and juvenile hall. Something that’s just incredible that the county has the ability to do is administer justice, through not just things like the DA’s office and investigators, but also programs through our local courts, partnering with schools, partnering with cities, and really working off a lot of the strengths that cities have on the investigative side, to make sure that people are followed through throughout a system — a system not just referring to those getting arrested, referring to those that are in foster care, those that are in our group homes — ensuring that they have the same opportunities for success that so many more of us are more privileged to have. So I think that’s really an incredible strength that the county has the ability to do a lot of good for. Thank you.

MODERATOR: Tim?

TIM SHAW: Our youngest son has autism, and one of the things that the county does — someone from the social services agency came — they come into our house every so often and assess how he’s doing. My son, who’s eight. And they, you know — can he brush his teeth? Can he tie his shoes? What are his abilities? And they give him kind of a score on that, and based on his abilities and his deficiencies, you know, for someone his age, what he should be doing and what he’s actually capable of. And so they kind of evaluate those who are of special needs.

MODERATOR: Thank you. Next question. The supervisor position comes with a few million dollars of discretionary funds. What kind of programs might you offer funds to, with a supporting vote of your peers?

TIM SHAW: Yeah, I’ve thought a lot about this. You know, the county’s budget is tight, so I’m not sure — I’m not going to make an ironclad promise, but I would be considering maybe not spending any discretionary funds in the first year or two, to make sure we’re doing our little part to help the county’s budget. But, you know, if we are giving out discretionary funds, I’m familiar with a nonprofit up in my town of La Habra. CRCC, it’s called — Community Resource Care Center. They give food to the people who are really the poorest of the poor, and they try to — sometimes they’ll even come in and pay rent to keep people in their apartment if they’re facing eviction, to make sure that they aren’t facing homelessness. So there are wonderful nonprofit organizations out there doing good to keep people housed or fed. So those would be the kind of things I would look at.

CONNOR TRAUT: To me, this is a question more about ethics. Should any elected official have discretion over specific funds being spent? My short answer to that: no. I support eliminating the discretionary funds system at the County of Orange. We see that this is what leads to a lot of the corruption that we have had, not only in our county but across the state, from county supervisors. And if my colleagues on the Board of Supervisors won’t support that change, I have a plan for how the dollars from my office would be spent, which is: we would have public criteria, written scoring, conflict checks, independent review, and real-time disclosure and audits. And when I say audits, it means that these dollars actually went to organizations that are legit — I’m referring to Andrew Do with this one — that are legit, are actually seeing a measurable impact, and that this is a process that the public, the people of this supervisorial district that serves North Orange County, are a part of, bringing forward the ideas, introducing the items. And it’s not just up to me; it’s up to all of you.

MODERATOR: Where do you stand on Flock cameras and other public recording and tracking devices?

CONNOR TRAUT: Yeah, Flock cameras — it’s such an odd topic, the license plate reader camera discussion. Because years ago, every city across the county was approving these. I voted for them. It would surprise me if pretty much everyone wasn’t voting for them at the time. But at the time, how was it sold to us? “This is a great tool for law enforcement to use.” I agree, it is. It’s a great tool for law enforcement to use to be able to find stolen vehicles and help solve crimes, and it’s proven that that’s true. But specifically as it comes to, for example, the company Flock, we’ve seen outside of California a lot of the very serious issues of what happens with this data. Is this government overreach? Who actually has access to it? Do we believe Flock when they tell us it’s protected? We’ve seen why we should have cause for concern, especially with this federal administration that has been taking a lot of this data. See, California — luckily, we have a state legislature that stepped in to put protections in place, and we have an incredible county sheriff who’s making sure these protections are in place here in Orange County. We should continue to have this accountability and review of this contract. Thank you.

TIM SHAW: Yeah, I have a fair amount of libertarian leanings myself, so I’m not comfortable with the government amassing more data than necessary about us. But I do agree with what Connor said about solving crimes. Those cameras can pick up license plates and other things — stolen cars. We’ve had a real problem out there — if you guys heard about these street takeovers, these guys do racing — and you want to make sure, it’s very dangerous. We don’t want to be allowing that to happen. So I guess it’s finding a moderate balance on that. Thank you.

MODERATOR: Next question. Have you already done anything to combat the climate change issue? If not, do you believe in climate change, and what could you do to combat it on the Board of Supervisors?

TIM SHAW: Well, I spent about a decade on the Orange County Transportation Authority board. Much of that time, I was the chairman of the Transit Committee for the OCTA. So we were doing things like piloting electric buses — excuse me — and other clean technology. There are a lot of technological challenges. For example, with the electric buses, the batteries were really heavy. They were so heavy they were making the bus — you know- kind of crack up the streets there. So we try to hopefully get better technology that can be feasible in the marketplace, but also you do everything you can to protect the environment.

MODERATOR: Connor, since it’s a compound question, I’m just going to say it again. Have you already done anything to combat the climate change issue? If not, do you believe in climate change, and what could you do to combat it?

CONNOR TRAUT: So, the first answer: yes, I’ll detail that in a second. Climate change is real; it’s caused by humans, and we need to listen to scientists. I am somebody who has pushed heavily in Buena Park that we do sustainability right, in a way that sets a model throughout this county. See, we have a climate action and adaptation plan that was created with business leaders being a part of it, it was created with scientists being a part of it, and it was created with the community being a part of it. And what’s come out of this is, in the city of Buena Park, now starting in January, we’re going to have agenda reports that show what the climate impact of an item is. We have a program I introduced, a Thousand Trees Per Year initiative, where we are increasing the canopy in the city of Buena Park by 50% over five years. We’ve been funding it. It’s been important. And there’s so much more than just the environmental impact on items. This really is an economic development issue. This is a community beautification issue, and this is a public health issue. It’s a high priority for me. The county is off to a good but slow start. I’m going to make it better. Thank you.

MODERATOR: Next question to Connor. How will you encourage and have young people come and support your events?

CONNOR TRAUT: Oh, that was hard.

MODERATOR: Sorry to keep going.

CONNOR TRAUT: So I started myself very young in public service. I’m 32 right now — obviously that’s young — started a teen council, though, when I was 16. So I went to speak at my first public comment. Coming out of that, a couple of months later, was a teen council to elevate the youth voice to decision-making tables, where it often just rotates among the same group of retired friends. The reality is, we need generational diversity at decision-making tables, because every generation has had unique experiences, and the moment in life that they’re in has unique challenges that need to be served and addressed. I think that’s very important. In Buena Park, I have helped recruit more young elected officials in our city than are currently serving in any city in Orange County. In fact, the majority of our city council is under the age of 35. We have multiple electeds under the age of 25, and we’ve shown that young people can get things done because we work hard and we deserve to be listened to.

TIM SHAW: You know, once upon a time, when I was a college student, I actually did an internship with a congressman, and it really shaped the rest of my life. I would welcome having interns come into my office and participate. I love being around young people. My son is now out of high school, and I’m just thinking about him and getting people his age and his cohort involved. It was a lot of fun. Thank you.

MODERATOR: Next question. Do you support rent control?

TIM SHAW: Uh-oh. I’m going to be in trouble at work if I answer this wrong. The answer is no. There’s an old saying that’s really fun: the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Rent control might be well-intentioned. It’s a disaster in practice. For our college students here: if you take an economics class, rent control would be an example of a government price ceiling, and when your professor asks you what the consequence of that is, you will remember for the exam that the correct answer is a shortage. You’re keeping supply and demand from hitting equilibrium, and that government-imposed price ceiling creates a shortage. So ultimately, rent control is self-defeating, in that what we really need out there is supply of housing, and rent control does everything to counteract the incentive to supply. That’s why we can look at Santa Ana and what a disaster they’ve had since they implemented their rent control policy just a few years ago.

MODERATOR: Connor, do you support rent control?

CONNOR TRAUT: I believe that cities have taken it a bit too — like Santa Ana, they’ve taken it way too far on rent control. Three percent. What that has done is it’s meant the quality of the housing for folks has gone down. Yes, when you’re in the units, you may be limited on the rent control aspect, but here’s the issue: if somebody wants to increase the rent, what are they going to do? They’re saying, well, I’m going to just redo my unit and kick you out. So things like just-cause eviction protections — I’ve worked for those in Buena Park, to have them. Now, I did support the state bill that put a limit at 5% plus CPI, up to 10%. And as a city council member, when there was an apartment complex where they received notices of 18% rent increases, I walked door to door, knocked on all 113 of those units’ doors, gave them a handout of the law, informed them of the law as their mayor, and let them know: hey, look, the city wants to give you this information. This is wrong. And I think it’s important for local government to do its part to protect renters through conditions, build more housing, and do its part to keep people informed. Thank you.

MODERATOR: What are your top three priorities if elected?

CONNOR TRAUT: I’d say my top three priorities really fall under the umbrellas of, first, public safety, and ensuring that we’re investing heavily into preventative programs, ensuring that through public safety we’re investing in mental health resources as well as substance abuse resources. I also believe we need to invest in doing our part to address the affordability crisis. Are either of us up here going to lower gas prices? No, we can’t do that. A lot of this is federal; it’s nationwide. But can we do things to introduce programs and fund child care, affordable child care? That’s a great economic development item. Yes, we can. We did that in Buena Park. In fact, every single employee — we’re the only city in the county that has this, an item I introduced — everyone has access to a child care benefit in the city of Buena Park, at City Hall, I’m referring to. It’s kept people in the workplace. It’s supported working families. And I’d say the third part, the third component, is essential services. Essential services, meaning that people have the health programs that they need. Thank you. Yes, I’ll pause there. There’s a lot of essential services.

MODERATOR: Tim, what are your top three priorities if elected?

TIM SHAW: Yeah, supporting our public safety officers and departments is always going to be number one. As far as supporting infrastructure, that is one thing local government also should be doing. Building the things that we need for our future. And affordability — anything we can do to make sure we’re not adding to that burden. Connor was absolutely right earlier about Orange County being such a difficult place for people to raise their family, to live, to get by. And so I’m terrified my children are not going to be living around me. And if I’m going to stay here, I’d like to see my kids once in a while. So we need to make sure that for younger people coming up, Orange County can be their home too.

MODERATOR: Okay, next question. Who are your biggest donors, and who are you endorsed by?

TIM SHAW: Okay. I’m endorsed by the Orange County Taxpayers Association. I’m endorsed by Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes. I got endorsed by the Orange County Register editorial board. I’ve been endorsed by the Realtor association. They were kind enough to employ me, so I kind of kicked them and told them they have to support me. Who else? County Supervisor Don Wagner, County Supervisor Janet Nguyen. I think almost all of our countywide elected officials. Hugh Nguyen is our clerk-recorder. So anyway, you can go to [campaign website, as heard: “shaw4oc.com”], because I’m going to blank on a lot of them, but you can see my endorsement list there.

CONNOR TRAUT: Yeah, some of the endorsements I’m most proud of — first, I’d start with the majority of the Board of Supervisors. Three of the sitting supervisors, including our current one, Doug Chaffee. Very proud to be supported by school board members and city council members on both sides of the aisle throughout this district, because I’ve been putting in the work for a long time: council member for eight years, two-term mayor, four years on the school board, including two of those as a school board president. Very proud to be backed by labor. When I say labor, I’m referring to everything from the building trades, those that build our communities. I’m referring to the Orange County Employees Association, those that deliver the services of the county. I’m referring to the deputy district attorneys. Our law enforcement community throughout Orange County is backing my campaign. And I’m proud to be supported by firefighters, pretty much every firefighter organization here in North OC as well. My biggest funders are largely those labor organizations, and also its residents from throughout this district. Over 950 people have donated to my campaign since day one. Thank you.

MODERATOR: How would you respond if residents strongly disagree with one of your decisions?

CONNOR TRAUT: This is the importance of explaining your vote. And I’m going to bring this down to the Fullerton level here, because I see we have Shana Charles in the room, an incredible council member in Fullerton. See, when Shana votes — and sorry, I’m just going to invoke your name — when she votes, something that is so incredible about her, and I try to emulate as well, is that she explains why she’s voting a certain way. The public deserves to know why you’re voting a certain way. They deserve to be able to counter that. They deserve the opportunity to change your mind. For me, I believe that at the end of the day, if I can go to bed at night knowing that I voted my conscience, that I put in the work to research an issue, that I put in the work to do community outreach — heck, on city council, I’m known for knocking on doors before we vote on an item, to actually inform people of the item. Cheyenne, my wife, has done this with me on a yellow water issue in a certain neighborhood recently. And so it’s that kind of — I think the integrity and the consistency and the clarity that the public deserves. Thank you.

TIM SHAW: I remember so distinctly, I got elected in 2008 to my city council, and I thought, I’m going to be the first guy that everybody likes. That didn’t work out very well. I tried. But I guess when you’re in elected office and you’re having to cast votes, yes or no, at some point you start getting some people riled up. So, you know, when I’ve had constituents that didn’t like the way I voted, I try to listen, you know, and I try to — I agree with that. You know, you do explain your vote as best you can. If you’ve researched the issue, if you’ve come to a thoughtful decision — unfortunately, you don’t make everyone happy in this business. But at some point, you know, I’m going to be leaving elected office, and I want to be able to look back and think, I did vote my conscience the whole way through. So I guess I have to live with myself with that. Thank you.

MODERATOR: Next question. Orange County [unclear] discovered toxic herbicides being sprayed. How would you address chemical spraying in the creeks and rivers?

TIM SHAW: Yeah, it is important to start with the premise. It is very important for those creeks to not have weeds. I know we think, well, what’s the big deal? If you let the weeds get out of control, when we do have a big storm, it causes flooding and property damage and stuff like that. So it is important. It’s going to take people with PhDs in chemistry and biology, etc., to tell me what is safe and what isn’t safe. But we don’t want to be spraying anything out there that’s going to get anyone sick. And we did have a number of these cases of very rare cancers to develop down there. There was a concern that maybe some of the things that are being sprayed could be causing that. So I am not a scientist. I don’t know what’s what on that, but obviously we want to make sure we’re very safe with any chemical that we’re using. Thank you.

MODERATOR: Connor?

CONNOR TRAUT: Yeah, I oppose using and utilizing chemicals when we know that the outcome is that it’s causing public harm, harm to our health. We’ve heard about in South Orange County a lot of the use in our waterways of these chemicals. I know that the county — I agree with the path that they’ve chosen to take now, which is have a pilot program of a different method, using more natural remedies to eliminate these weeds, that they use also the manual pull method. We know it’s not as effective to do that job, but we can’t risk our public health or the health of our children and our families with these decisions. The reality is, a lot of this is unknown. A lot of it’s unknown if there actually is a direct cause or if there’s some sort of correlation. Luckily, the county has, to their credit, I think, done an incredible job bringing in the right experts. The state has stepped up to send in resources as well, and hopefully we have answers, because our families deserve it. And if we find out it’s causing the harm, you’ve got to change course. Thank you.

MODERATOR: Next question. What changes do you plan on enacting to help combat the homeless crisis in Orange County?

CONNOR TRAUT: Yeah, so on homelessness, I mentioned earlier about shelters. We’re doing a good job in North OC. So in the shelters — like Buena Park, we’re one of the cities that has stepped up and has a shelter. Folks were only supposed to stay there 90 days, maybe six months at most. That’s the concept behind it. That’s what they were built for. That’s not the reality. The reality is people are staying there one, two years. And why? It’s because they don’t have another spot to go to. And so we’re needing to make sure that we have more of that supportive housing. So in Buena Park, we’ve had motels that are dilapidated, that are high crime, that have been problematic for the surrounding community. And we’ve been working hard with other providers, nonprofits and other companies to ensure that those are being converted into units that people need. But also, what has a greater ROI? Preventing homelessness. It’s weird to say ROI when we’re talking about people’s lives, but it’s the reality. So investing more resources and dollars into keeping people in the housing that they are in — those types of programs are so incredibly valuable. And also, for those that are service resistant, making sure that we do our part to try to make sure they get their services, and they clean up our parks and open spaces.

TIM SHAW: A lot of times, when you actually see success with people who are homeless, it’s when you’ve gotten them connected back to their relatives. And a lot of times the relatives don’t want them in their home if they’re actively abusing drugs, or they’re having schizophrenia or other mental health problems, and so the relatives don’t want to take them in. So I think really the key to getting people off the street is addressing what is the underlying problem in their life. There’s usually — I mean, there’s probably something else going on that’s causing that homelessness in the first place. So hopefully, getting people the right medication, getting them off of drugs, and having those facilities. You know, I was on the La Habra City Council. We partnered with Placentia, [unclear], the other cities up here, to have these navigation centers. There is a great partnership in the 13 cities of North Orange County. They call it an SPA, service provision area —

CONNOR TRAUT: Service Planning Area.

TIM SHAW: Service planning. Weird name. The SPA of North Orange County has really done a good job. Thank you.

MODERATOR: Next. Recycling centers are often dirty and uninviting. What initiatives do you plan on raising to improve Orange County recycling centers and encourage more people to recycle?

TIM SHAW: Honestly, I don’t know if I’ve thought a whole lot about that. You know, I think about the place I take my stuff to in La Habra. Yeah, it is pretty dirty. I guess we just want to make sure, you know, our health care agency — and, you know, maybe we can — CalRecycle is a state agency. Maybe we can see about encouraging them to have a cleaner operation.

CONNOR TRAUT: Yeah, I’m not familiar with the condition of those centers, but I’ll share with you all something that I think is super pathetic about the city where I serve. We’re the last city in Orange County to get the recycling bins at people’s homes. It was mind-boggling. When we came in, it took the state telling us, “You’ve got to do it.” So not only did we finally step up — I was able to get the votes to do that right before that state deadline. But now we’re looking at — when we’re talking about recycling, it’s not just bottles and cans like this. It’s also making sure that our green waste and then our food waste — that people have the education on these [unclear]. I mean, a lot of you might know about these [unclear] disposals that they’re using to make mulch. Things like this are important, because this is how we have a more sustainable operation: through the education piece, and also making sure that folks have the tools that they need to be able to do this right from their homes. They don’t have to go to these large centers as well. Thank you.

MODERATOR: The last question before closing statements. Transportation in Orange County is getting more congested, and the many cars contribute to carbon in the atmosphere and global warming. What will you do as Orange County supervisor to help with these issues?

CONNOR TRAUT: Yeah, so transit has to work for people with their everyday lives. For me, I’ve been a big supporter of first-mile, last-mile programs. So all that really means is, think of it like the daily trips that you do — to the grocery store, to the park, areas that are close to you by home. We feel — when I say we, I’m referring to Buena Park now — that Beach Boulevard, around Knott’s Berry Farm, that area is good not just for visitors, for a program like that, but good for the surrounding neighbors and residents. See, this is a way not only to get people out of their cars into something that is less of a pollutant, but ultimately it’s good for traffic congestion as well. Also, investing in and expanding our bike lanes. Buena Park, that’s another thing we did horribly on. We’re finally moving up in the ranks. This has been a big priority of mine. There’s something called the OC Loop, this awesome project that all we need to do is finish La Habra and Buena Park, and we’ve got this massive loop for folks to be able to have this kind of intermodal means of transportation and just getting outdoors. Thank you. Stop sign’s up. I could go for like an hour about this stuff. Thank you.

TIM SHAW: Yeah, getting cars off the road is ideal. So we’ve, you know, done a lot to try to expand our HOV capacity, that encourages people to carpool. But, you know, when we have buses — when I was on the OCTA board, we started the bus service here to Fullerton College, for example, getting students that free bus ride. One of the great services in Southern California is Metrolink. When I worked in downtown LA, for example, I would drive from La Habra down to the Fullerton train station and get on that Metrolink train. I could have driven my car into downtown LA, but I chose to take the train. So there’s a lot of people who can drive a car, but they’re choosing to park their car and maybe go on a train. And the Metrolink ridership, by the way, since COVID has really come down. So it’s a struggling service. It’s a beautiful service — when you’re on the train, it’s very clean and nice — but it’s very important that we try to, you know, keep that service alive, because it does take a lot of cars off the road. So I do agree also with the active transportation stuff that we can do. Thank you.

CLOSING STATEMENTS

MODERATOR: So now, one minute each for closing statements. Connor, we’ll start with you.

CONNOR TRAUT: Perfect. So I want an Orange County where everyone can afford to be here. Everyone is healthy and has that access to health care. I want an Orange County where people are proud to live here. They have good parks and open space and public art and good means of transportation. I want an Orange County where my son hopes to stay here someday. And I want to be a part of that change. I’ve been serving now for a very long time — with that teen council, Juvenile Justice Commission, school board, council. I also work as an attorney; it’s my day job. I’m very proud to be married to an elementary school teacher who’s going to be defending her doctoral dissertation in two weeks. Shout-out to that effort. This is the office where we can do the most good to impact our everyday lives. I truly believe it. I feel like I have a lot of plans to make things happen. I’m ready to get to work, and I hope that I earn each of your votes. If not, I still look forward to serving you — hopefully as your next Orange County supervisor. Appreciate you all being here. Thank you.

TIM SHAW: Great. Well, yeah, I’ve lived up in this part of the county most of my life. I went to La Habra High School. My wife went to Sonora High School. My wife’s an elementary school teacher. She teaches special ed at an elementary school in La Habra. And we’re raising our kids. We attend church in La Habra. So once upon a time, I worked for the governor of California. I’ve worked for a member of the state Senate, worked for a county supervisor. I have my master’s degree from George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management. I hold executive certificates in public leadership and public policy from Harvard Kennedy School. So I think I do wholly have the background and experience you would want and hope for. And having been a mayor, and the chairman of the Orange County Transportation Authority, and president of the Orange County Board of Education, I think I’m well suited for this position. Thank you.

MODERATOR: Thank you. So, a round of applause to [recording ends].

Election Day is November 3. Remember to vote.

https://fullertonobserver.com/2026/03/06/follow-money-in-orange-county-board-of-supervisors-district-4-race/