Nelson in the News

May 15, 2013 
Orange County supervisors won’t ask Calif. hikers to pay back $160,000 in rescue costs

SANTA ANA, Calif. — Two hikers lost for days in the Southern California wilderness won’t be charged the $160,000 it took to find them.


May 15, 2013 
Supervisors will appeal court's $147M demand

SANTA ANA – Orange County's Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to appeal a judge's ruling that requires the county to repay $147 million it withheld from a state fund that supports schools and community colleges.


May 1, 2013 
Supervisors Poised to Hire New CEO

The Orange County Board of Supervisors seems poised to hire the head of county's trash department as its next CEO.


March 26, 2013 
Supervisor Shawn Nelson deserves credit for speaking at Los Amigos Meeting

O.C. Board of Supervisors Chairman Shawn Nelson spoke on Wednesday to approximately 60 members of Los Amigos of Orange County


March 25, 2013 
Supervisors inch toward response to CalOptima report

A split county Board of Supervisors is moving forward to craft a response to a scathing grand jury report from ealier this year


March 19, 2013 
Supervisors disagree on new-CEO salary

Toward the end of a meeting that lasted more than seven hours on Tuesday, Orange County's Board of Supervisors agreed that they would like to hire Chandra Waller to be the County's top manager, but they couldn't agree on how much to pay her.


March 13, 2013 
Hundreds turn out at town hall meeting for shelter

Many of the 250-plus residents who turned out for a town hall meeting expressed concern or disdain over a proposed year-round homeless shelter in their neighborhood.


March 12, 2013 
Despite Complaints, Supervisors still back homeless shelter

A handful of Fullerton residents -- armed with statistics, charts, and what they described at their own good sense -- showed up Tuesday to the OC Board of Supervisors meeting to deliver the following message: Don't put a homeless shelter in my back yard.


February 7, 2013 
Clerk-recorder job draws 900 applicants

SANTA ANA – Binders full of women – and men – have been delivered to the offices of the five county supervisors.

Now the real work begins: winnowing nearly 900 applicants for the county's vacant clerk-recorder job to a maximum of 10 before conducting public interviews with the surviving candidates.


January 28, 2013 
Orange County Homeless Shelter - PBS SOCal Video

Orange County Homeless Shelter - PBS SOCal Video


January 24, 2013 
OC Grand Jury Issues Scathing Report on CalOptima

In the wake of a blistering report by Orange County's Grand Jury that raised troubling questions about hospital lobbyists writing controversial changes to the county's $1.5 billion health plan for the poor and then fundraising for Supervisor Janet Nguyen, a majority of her colleagues Friday said they supported changing the board governance for CalOptima.


January 16, 2013 
Supervisors OK buying Fullerton building for year-round shelter

SANTA ANA – Orange County's Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved the purchase of a former furniture store in Fullerton for conversion into a year-round emergency shelter for the homeless, the county's first.


January 15, 2013 
Orange County spending $3.2 million to create Fullerton homeless shelter

The Orange County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a plan Tuesday to spend $3.2 million to acquire a closed Linder's Furniture site in Fullerton to convert into a year-round homeless shelter.


January 14, 2013 
OCTA Board selects Winterbottom as chairman, Nelson as vice chairman

Vice Chairman Greg Winterbottom was unanimously selected as the new chairman of the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) Board of Directors. Winterbottom replaces outgoing Chairman Paul Glaab.


January 8, 2013 
Shawn Nelson Elected Chairman of OC Supervisors

Shawn Nelson took over Tuesday as chairman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors.

Nelson was elected by a 5-0 vote of his colleagues despite concerns publicly voiced by Supervisor Janet Nguyen to the Orange County Register that his often-combative style of questioning staff from the dais would be an issue.

“I didn’t expect any surprises today,” Nelson said after the vote.


January 8, 2013 
District 4 Supervisor Nelson elected chairman

Supervisor Shawn Nelson, representing the Fourth District, was unanimously elected Chair of the Orange County Board of Supervisors today during an annual reorganization of the Board.


January 5, 2013 
Affordable housing plan provokes objection

SANTA ANA – It was a classic Shawn Nelson moment.

The county supervisor, who represents north Orange County, can be discomfortingly direct in public meetings, speaking up about things that others might prefer were left unsaid.

The concern he raised at the Dec. 18 Board of Supervisors meeting is familiar to anyone who has worked to create affordable housing – especially for larger households – in ZIP codes where the cost of shelter is well above average.