The OC Board of Supervisors will vote Sept. 10 on whether to remove First District Supervisor Andrew Do from all board and committee assignments, the board’s chairman, Third District Supervisor Don Wagner, announced Monday, Aug. 26.
The announcement follows the raid last week of Do’s home and office by federal agents, as well as the homes of his daughter and Viet American Society leader Peter Pham. Do is responsible for directing millions of dollars through his district discretionary fund to Viet America Society for a nutrition gap program during the pandemic, but the nonprofit is now at the center of a civil lawsuit filed by the county alleging the organization and some of its leadership misused public dollars for personal gain.
Do has been criticized for not disclosing his daughter, Rhiannon, worked with Viet America Society at the time, though that is not a violation of county police or state law.
Wagner in his announcement said he was using his “prerogative as chairman” to put on the future agenda the question of removing Do from his assignments, adding “I expect unanimous approval when the matter comes forward early next month.”
There have been several calls, including from supervisors Katrina Foley and Vicente Sarmiento, for Do to resign from his seat on the Board of Supervisors, which Wagner acknowledged in his statement, saying, “I expect him to seriously consider his future on this elected body, especially for the sake of the citizens of the First District.”
“He is entitled to the full protections of the law as these cases move forward and I urge against a rush to judgment in these matters, as I do in all legal proceedings,” Wagner added. “I have the utmost confidence in our legal system and will accept the findings of this investigation and the rulings of the courts.”
Wagner also said he was “certain” the other supervisors would “not approve any disbursement of additional discretionary First District dollars without a full vetting of any such proposed expenditures.”
The assignments will be spread out amongst the four supervisors, who Wagner said he has “no doubt they will join me at this difficult time in picking up the slack with this extra work.”
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