Supervisor Andrew Do was officially censured unanimously by his colleagues on the Orange County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, marking the first formal action taken by the board to penalize him after his home was raided by the FBI last month.
While censures don’t carry any legal power, they’re the strongest condemnation elected officials can give to one another.
Proposals for a censure have been up for discussion ever since county lawyers sued a nonprofit – Viet America Society – his daughter helped run, alleging leaders there took federal pandemic relief funds and spent it on things like buying houses, including one for Do’s daughter.
[Read: FBI Executes Searches on OC Supervisor, His Daughter & Others in Missing COVID Money Case]
Do used his office’s discretionary funding to send money to the nonprofit to feed seniors – after county staff raised concerns about the nonprofit’s invoicing practices and ended the initial contract.
Do – who hasn’t been charged with a crime – hasn’t shown up to a public meeting since the raid, and has declined to comment on the investigation.
While Do has been facing calls to resign for weeks from fellow supervisors, the Huntington Beach City Council and other elected officials, he has retained his seat on the board.
[Read: Calls Grow For OC Supervisor Andrew Do to Resign After FBI Raids]
Supervisors Katrina Foley and Vicente Sarmiento repeated calls for Do to resign on Tuesday, saying he was no longer qualified to remain on the board.
“His office appears to be at the epicenter of the misuse of public funds,” Sarmiento said. “Many have called for Supervisor Do to step down. We can’t force him to step down, but we can publicly condemn the conduct we see swirling around his office.”
“We know he isn’t doing the work he was elected to do,” he continued. “We have to be held to a higher ethical and moral standard and not just to a baseline legal standard.
While Do has frequently faced questions over his conduct for years, including whether or not he lives in his own district and whether he improperly used county funds while campaigning for office, this is the first time he’s faced a censure.
[Read: Santana: OC Supervisor Andrew Do’s Political Journey That Ended in FBI Raids]
“This criminally minded operation dates back many years,” Foley said at Tuesday’s meeting. “This censure is not only warranted, it’s not far enough given the stain Supervisor Do has left on his legacy.”
Supervisor Doug Chaffee was the only supervisor to call for Do to return to the dais while also supporting the censure, calling the man he once referred to as his mentor “brilliant” and noting they could use his help in crafting new regulations.
“We must not proceed by way of political interference with investigations, that needs to be done on its own,” Chaffee said.
“I think Supervisor Do, in spite of the difficulty he would have, should really be here and use whatever influence and talent he has, and he does have some talent, he’s a very brilliant man, to give us advice on these other matters.”
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.
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