For this week's “Orange Feathers” cartoon, Al Gae tackled the thorny issue of our county government's (non) strategy for dealing with the homeless in Orange County. It's a recipe for disaster: declare there's a problem, promise to solve it, refuse to fund any solution, and then simply punish the victims of the problem.
Artist's statement: The Orange County Sheriff's Department and OC's Public Works have taken a Whack-a-Mole approach for dealing with the county's homeless. Last May, more than 100 people were forcibly removed from Santa Ana's Civic Center. In June, people in Santa Ana's riverbed had their tents and personal belongings taken away in trucks. The ACLU says the county is unfairly punishing the homeless based on their status, a violation of their 8th Amendment rights. Orange County has a plan to end homelessness in 10 years, but without granting funding to implement the plan, the county is ensuring the homeless will remain homeless.
Got an idea for an OC-specific editorial cartoon? Email garellano at ocweekly dot com. Happy drawering!
Award-winning investigative journalist Nick Schou is Editor of OC Weekly. He is the author of Kill the Messenger: How the CIA’s Crack Cocaine Controversy Destroyed Journalist Gary Webb (Nation Books 2006), which provided the basis for the 2014 Focus Features release starring Jeremy Renner and the L.A. Times-bestseller Orange Sunshine: The Brotherhood of Eternal Love’s Quest to bring Peace, Love and Acid to the World, (Thomas Dunne 2009). He is also the author of The Weed Runners (2013) and Spooked: How the CIA Manipulates the Media and Hoodwinks Hollywood (2016).