Once again, the Board of Supervisors has cut by $50,000 the annual funding request by Orange County Human Relations, the watchdog on regional hate crimes.
But the nonprofit, which won approval for $252,000 in county funding for this fiscal year, would have received another $50,000 less than that if one supervisor had his way.
Supervisor John Moorlach, portraying himself as a fan of the commission, recommended $202,000 so OC Human Relations can “wean” itself off public funding. Wonder if he feels the same way about land developers?
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Known for its annual reports that track reported hate crimes in the county, OC Human Relations in 2011 agreed to a five-year, $302,000 annual funding contract subject to annual review by the supervisors. This represents the second straight year the board has cut the allocation by $50k.
Supervisor Pat Bates praised the organization's work but, according to City News Service, she added, “We are constrained financially.”
Moorlach, meanwhile, reportedly said, “This is an organization that I'm really pleased with in how they've been able to self-fund. It's an example of something we can get started and then it can go out on its own.”
He argued the commission could be more independent and above politics if it did not receive any public funding. “I want to continue to encourage their independence,” he said, “and wish them all the best.”
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OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.