CONTENTS: Contact Us | Anonymous Tips | Staff Directory | Contributing Writers
Contact Us
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 10020, Santa Ana, CA 92711
Phone: (714) 558-8642
Email: admin@voiceofoc.org
Anonymous Tips
Do you have a news tip for Voice of OC? We have several ways you can send us an anonymous message. No tool is completely secure, but these options below offer the best option for maintaining anonymity. Please do not send story ideas or press releases through these channels.
Please understand that news tips must have documentation or evidence. Speculation is not enough. Be specific. News tips must be newsworthy.
We regularly check each of these channels. We cannot promise each message will receive an individual response. We will respond to tips in the same method you contact us.
Encrypted Email
Proton Mail offers encrypted email services. The company is based in Switzerland and is thus governed by the Swiss Federal Data Protection Act. All emails sent through the service are considered personal data.
Postal Mail
P.O. Box 10020, Santa Ana, CA 92711
You can send us mail as another secure means of communication. We recommend using a public mailbox and not a post office.
Staff Directory
NORBERTO SANTANA, Jr., Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
SPENCER CUSTODIO, Civic Editor
AMANDA SANTANA, Marketing and Development Director
THERESA SEARS, Involvement Editor
JULIE LEOPO, Director of Photography
NOAH BIESIADA, Reporter
HOSAM ELATTAR, Reporter
ANGELINA HICKS, Reporting Fellow
JOSE HERNANDEZ, Contributing Visual Journalist
KELLY AVILES, Litigator
OMAR SANCHEZ, Contributing Photo Journalist
KARLENE GOLLER, Media Law Attorney
TRACY WOOD, Civic Editor (Emerita)
“Voice of OC journalists work as quality of life mechanics, empowered and encouraged to dive daily into the civic trenches of Orange County’s cities and government agencies as well as the region’s arts and cultural institutions, engaging on stories that affect real people and hold powerful interests accountable.”
NORBERTO SANTANA, JR.
Publisher & Editor-in-Chief, Voice of OC
NORBERTO SANTANA, JR.
Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
Norberto Santana, Jr. is an experienced investigative reporter, serving as founding publisher and editor-in-chief for Voice of OC, overseeing newsroom, engagement and fundraising operations.
He’s also an award-winning columnist, focusing his efforts on First Amendment issues and local government, being recognized multiple years by the Orange County Press Club as the region’s best columnist.
The LA Press Club has named him a Journalist of the Year (2018) and the Los Angeles chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists has recognized him as a “Distinguished Journalist.” The California Chicano News Media Association has honored him with a lifetime achievement award and the national News Leaders Association has recognized him for his commitment to diverse staffing and coverage.
Santana is a pioneer in the field of nonprofit news having served on the board of directors for the national trade group for nonprofit newsrooms, the Institute for Nonprofit News (INN). He also has served on boards of the national nonprofit advocating investigative journalism, Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) and the California First Amendment advocacy group, CalAware.
In addition to journalism, Santana also teaches public affairs and investigative journalism as an adjunct faculty professor at Chapman University.
Before founding Voice of OC in 2009, Santana was a lead investigative reporter for the Orange County Register, focusing on county government. He spent nearly two decades covering local governments across Southern California, previously as a staff writer at the San Diego Union Tribune and San Bernardino County Sun.
Santana began his journalistic career as an apprentice reporter with Congressional Quarterly in Washington, D.C. covering daily floor action in the U.S. Congress and followed that up with a stint covering the territorial Senate for the U.S. Virgin Islands Daily News.
Languages spoken: English and Spanish
Areas of expertise: Orange County, southern California, investigations, politics, elections, government transparency, Congress, Cuba, Caribbean, Latin America, local government, civic education and reporting education.
Contact: nsantana@voiceofoc.org
SPENCER CUSTODIO
Civic Editor
Spencer Custodio serves as Voice of OC’s civic editor. Like the other reporters, Custodio began as an intern – one of the news organization’s first in 2010.
Custodio was the lead writer during the newsroom’s award winning COVID coverage, which earned a prestigious General Excellence award from the California News Publishers Association in 2022.
He works with reporters in the field on daily civic coverage across Orange County cities and the county government and took over the role just after the death of the newsroom’s legendary Civic Editor, Tracy Wood, in 2020.
After initially covering Fullerton and Irvine as a reporter with Voice of OC, Custodio began focusing on Anaheim City Hall in late 2018. In award-winning coverage throughout the following year, he detailed the shadowy Angel Stadium land sale proposal – a sale that was ultimately canned after it got caught up in a federal corruption probe.
As Civic Editor, he has overseen the ensuing Anaheim corruption scandal coverage that followed former Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu’s resignation and guilty plea to federal corruption charges.
Languages spoken:English
Areas of expertise: Voter registration and turnout, data analysis, homelessness, Irvine and Fullerton.
Contact: scustodio@voiceofoc.org
AMANDA SANTANA
Marketing Development Director
Amanda Santana serves as the Marketing and Development for Voice of OC overseeing online, institutional and major donor giving experiences.
Santana brings decades of work experience in the nonprofit marketing field having worked with the Urban Institute and Radio/TV News Directors Foundation in Washington, D.C. along with internal and marketing communications at Gateway Computers and news organizations like the U.S. Virgin Islands Daily News and El Chicano newspaper in the Inland Empire.
Contact: asantana@voiceofoc.org
THERESA SEARS
Involvement Editor
Theresa Sears is Involvement Editor for Voice of OC and works with active residents throughout Orange County helping to lift their voices by facilitating the publication of daily Op-eds from a broad array of perspectives.
Theresa also handles office administration and works to help organize Voice of OC civic training programs and policy events.
With an intimate knowledge of Orange County civic issues, Theresa has worked as an active grassroots community leader on a host of public land use and regional public-benefit issues across the region for the past three decades.
As a solutions oriented activist, she has taken a leadership role in grass roots efforts supporting the public’s right to know and petition their government, community engagement, legal remedies and direct democracy.
Her efforts have preserved Orange County’s fairgrounds, Barham Ranch which is now part of Santiago Oak Regional Park, as well critical open space in East Orange. She’s also led efforts to protect Orange County’s regional park system as a leader with the Friends of Harbors, Beaches and Parks
Languages spoken: English and some Spanish
Areas of expertise: Community organizing, direct democracy, open government – public oversight, land use, civic engagement and protecting public assets.
Contact: tsears@voiceofoc.org
JULIE LEOPO
Director of Photography
Julie Leopo is an award-winning photojournalist. Her first photo essay was published with Voice of OC in 2015 and she has been working as a photographer with the publication ever since.
Julie has freelanced for OC Weekly, KCET, Mitú, The California Endowment, Ed Source and Vice. She has won awards for her photo essays featured in Voice of OC, and recognition for her Santa Ana photo essay, “ Lost in the City,” in Berlin, Germany. This particular photo essay also won awards for best photo essay in the 2016 OC Press Awards.
Leopo went to the Orange Coast College Community college where she was enrolled in their photo program. During her studies, she was awarded two scholarships to continue her photo work with a concentration on Social Justice. Her work has been shown on USC’s website and exhibited in a Yale photo-program show.
Languages spoken: Fluent in English and Spanish.
Areas of expertise: For three years Julie has covered all areas surrounding social issues in Orange County, Mexico, and other counties in California.
Contact: jleopo@voiceofoc.org
NOAH BIESIADA
Reporter
Noah Biesiada serves as Voice of OC’s county reporter, covering the county board of supervisors and the $9 billion government they oversee.
Biesiada started as an intern in July 2019, helping launch Voice of OC’s disaster news coverage and report on the cities of south Orange County such as Irvine, Mission Viejo, Laguna Niguel, and other coastal cities like Huntington Beach and San Clemente.
Currently, Biesiada’s reporting is focused on county agencies such as the sheriff’s department, the courts, and other departments along with the cities of Irvine and Huntington Beach.
His reporting has led to a host of reforms across Orange County governments including the Orange County Power Authority, the OC Fire Authority and Irvine’s Great Park.
He’s won several awards from state and local press organizations for his reporting on the county’s disaster preparedness, breaking news and other investigations.
Languages spoken: English
Contact: nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org
HOSAM ELATTAR
Reporter
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC/ Report For America reporter covering Anaheim & North Orange County, food insecurity, housing & homelessness, the Arab & Muslim American community and education.
Elattar started at Voice of OC as an intern in January, 2020 and has covered local food banks’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic, School board debates on how to teach history, the decades long push by Arab American business owners to recognize Little Arabia and a corruption scandal at Anaheim City Hall.
He has won several awards from the OC Press Club including Best News Story, Best Political Story and Best Religion Story.
Elattar is Egyptian American and has lived in Botswana, Nepal, Uganda, The Dominican Republic and India.
Languages spoken: English, Arabic and Spanish.
Areas of expertise: Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, and food insecurity in Orange County.
Contact: helattar@voiceofoc.org
JOSE HERNANDEZ
Contributing Visual Journalist
A contributing videographer to Voice of OC and a freelance journalist. Although I have been taking photographs for more than nine years my professional experience comes mainly from shooting events such as weddings, one on one photoshoots, and personal projects. I was working for Canon USA but later left to pursue more creative endeavors.
Languages spoken: Fluent in English and Spanish.
Areas of expertise:Photography and videography (including drone videos).
Contact: jose.hernandez1641@yahoo.com
KELLY AVILES
Litigator
Ms. Aviles, daughter of the late renowned open government activist Richard P. McKee, is an attorney who specializes in the California Public Records Act, the Ralph M. Brown Act, and the Bagley-Keene Act, and serves as litigation counsel for Californians Aware. She attended the University of La Verne College of Law, graduating Magna Cum Laude in 2006. She has successfully assisted numerous clients in obtaining legal orders interpreting California’s open government laws and securing the release of important government records.
In 2012, she successfully represented Californians Aware when it teamed up with the Los Angeles Times to force the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission to comply with the Brown Act and turn over wrongfully withheld public records. In 2010, she won a case against California State University Stanislaus, obtaining an order requiring the University to disclose its foundation’s speaking appearance contract with former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Ms. Aviles has also served as outside counsel for the San Diego County Water Authority, successfully litigating two high profile public records cases against the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and the Eastern Municipal Water District.
KARLENE GOLLER
Media Law Attorney
Karlene Goller is one of the nation’s most recognized First Amendment lawyers. In 25 years at the Los Angeles Times, mostly as the paper’s newsroom counsel, Goller successfully fought for open records and proceedings, and counseled reporters and editors at the Los Angeles Times Media Group’s daily and weekly newspapers, magazines, digital properties, and new media.
She is now a sole practitioner at The Law Office of Karlene Goller PC and Of Counsel at Jassy Vick Carolan advising news organizations, authors and others on issues ranging from access to libel. Goller teaches media law at UCI Law.
TRACY WOOD
Civic Editor (Emerita)
Tracy Wood oversaw Voice of OC’s civics reporting, including county and city government, the Orange County Transportation Authority, CalOptima, Anaheim, Santa Ana and other community coverage.
Tracy was a former government reporter, foreign correspondent in Asia, and California investigative reporter and editor. She has covered the California legislature and governor’s office for both United Press International and the Los Angeles Times. As a UPI reporter, she was one of the few women combat correspondents during the Vietnam War. She joined the Los Angeles Times in California where she was an investigative reporter for 17 years, covering political and government corruption. Later she became the Orange County Register’s Investigations Editor, leading the paper’s investigations team when it broke the story of former Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona’s ties to Nationwide Auction Systems founder and former Assistant Sheriff Donald G. Haidl.
She has won numerous awards for investigative reporting and in 2001 was named Los Angeles Print Journalist of the Year by Sigma Delta Chi, the professional journalism association.
Wood and eight other women reporters from Vietnam co-authored “War Torn, Stories of War from the Women Reporters who Covered Vietnam” (2002 Random House). She was also part of the Los Angeles Times staff team that won the 1993 Pulitzer for coverage of the Rodney King riots. The Pulitzer was for spot news coverage for balanced, comprehensive, penetrating coverage under deadline pressure of the second, most destructive day of the Los Angeles riots.