Chris Wangsaporn, chief of staff to O.C. Supervisor Andrew Do, at the O.C. Board of Supervisors meeting on Dec. 19, 2023.
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Nick Gerda
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LAist
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Topline:
The longtime partner — and now wife — of Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do's top aide was hired by a nonprofit to carry out a $275,000 mental health contract funded by the county, but the work was never completed, a county spokesperson confirmed to LAist. Supervisor Do told the nonprofit to hire the woman, Josie Batres, to do the work, according to multiple people briefed on the contract.
What was the contract for? The work was intended to advise the county on how to increase access to publicly funded mental health services. The contract called for carrying out a series of monthly listening sessions in the community, and providing quarterly updates, an annual report and a final report to the Health Care Agency.
What we know about what happened: A county spokesperson told LAist they had received none of the work required under the contract, including the reports. Public records show — and the spokesperson confirmed — that all the money was paid out.
It's unclear how many of the listening sessions were carried out. Mind OC said they found a single report connected to the contract, but didn't know whether any work had been turned over to the county.
The longtime partner — and now wife — of Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do's top aide was hired by a nonprofit to carry out a $275,000 mental health contract funded by the county, but the work was never completed, a county spokesperson confirmed to LAist.
Supervisor Do told the nonprofit to hire the woman, Josie Batres, to do the work, according to multiple people briefed on the contract.
At the time, Batres was the longtime girlfriend of Chris Wangsaporn, Supervisor Do's chief of staff. The two were married in December 2021, a year into the two-year contract.
The contract required the nonprofit, Mind OC, to run community listening sessions and submit reports to help the county increase access to publicly-funded mental health services, especially among non-English speakers, foster youth, and other underrepresented communities. The people who spoke with LAist about Do's alleged directive did so on the condition they not be named, saying it could compromise their careers.
Neither Batres nor Wangsaporn responded to multiple requests for comment about the contract. Do did not respond to a voicemail left on his cell phone. Reached by phone, Do's attorney, Paul Meyer, acknowledged receiving a list of questions about the contract from LAist and said he could not talk.
The contract was issued to Mind OC, without competitive bidding, by Clayton Chau, the county Health Care Agency director at the time, according to the agency’s spokesperson. Chau told LAist he didn't remember the contract or any related directive from Do.
In a phone interview, Frank Kim, who was then the county's CEO and supervised the Health Care Agency director and other county executives, also said he did not remember the contract or any related directive from Do.
"If it happened, I'm not aware of that," he said.
He added that Do was closely involved in efforts to improve mental and behavioral health care and had frequent communication with county officials about the county’s programs.
“Supervisor Do had strong opinions,” Kim said. “Did he exert influence? Sure, he was a supervisor."
Jeff Nagel, the county's behavioral health chief, oversaw the contract for the county. He was deeply troubled to learn several months into the contract that Do directed that Batres be hired for the work, according to several people familiar with the situation.
Nagel left the agency in January 2022. He declined an interview for this story.
Marshall Moncrief, who was Mind OC’s CEO at the time of the county contract and now works elsewhere, didn’t respond to multiple phone and text messages for comment.
In a statement to LAist, Mind OC’s current CEO Phil Franks, who was hired after the contract ended, said he had no knowledge of a directive from Supervisor Do to hire Batres.
Ellen Guevara, a spokesperson for the O.C. Health Care Agency, told LAist the agency never received the work required in the contract. That work was supposed to include quarterly updates, an annual report and a final report.
Franks, Mind OC’s CEO, told LAist in a statement that the organization found a single report from Batres' home-based HR consulting firm TalentGate related to the contract, but didn't know whether it or any other related work had been turned over to the county. He didn't respond to a request from LAist for a copy of the report.
It's unclear whether payments went to Batres or TalentGate. Guevara said Mind OC hired Batres as their employee for the contract; Mind OC told LAist it subcontracted with TalentGate to fulfill it.
LAist made multiple requests for documentation of the hiring to the Health Care Agency and Mind OC but has yet to receive any.
The details of what happened
The $275,000 in taxpayer money was paid out to Mind OC over two years in six installments, according to county records.
Multiple people briefed on the contract told LAist that Supervisor Do directed the O.C. Health Care Agency to award the contract to Mind OC, and told Mind OC to hire Batres to do the work.
Josie Batres was hired by the nonprofit Mind OC to carry out a $275,000 mental health contract funded by the county, according to a county spokesperson.
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Screenshot via YouTube
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The contract is one of several LAist has uncovered over the past year in which Orange County taxpayer funds went to people close to Do during the pandemic without competitive bidding or disclosure on public agendas. In several cases, contractors didn't provide proof of how the money was spent, as required under those contracts.
LAist has reported that Supervisor Do directed more than $13 million in taxpayer funds to a nonprofit where his daughter Rhiannon Do held top leadership positions, most of it awarded outside public view, according to county records. Supervisor Do didn’t disclose his family relationship, and county officials say the group has refused to account for what happened with most of the money.
In August, county officials sued Rhiannon Do and others connected to the nonprofit, Viet America Society (VAS), for civil fraud, alleging they “brazenly plundered” millions in public funds for home purchases and renovations, and made “voluminous, unaccounted for ATM cash withdrawals.” Last month, Supervisor Do was publicly condemned by his colleagues on the O.C. Board of Supervisors through a censure. He’s facing multiple calls to resign, including from fellow Republican elected officials. He has not attended board meetings since his home — and homes owned by Rhiannon Do and others with ties to Viet America Society — were searched by federal agents on Aug. 22.
Rhiannon Do, a UCI law student, previously told LAist in April that she worked hard to buy the house and has done nothing wrong.
The contract was awarded without going on a public meeting agenda for a vote by the full Board of Supervisors.
Instead, it was awarded by Chau under COVID emergency contracting authority the board established during the pandemic, according to the county’s contracts database and Guevara, the county Health Care Agency spokesperson. The contract itself doesn’t say it’s related to COVID or the pandemic — nor was there a memo explaining why it was issued through emergency authority, as other contracts issued that way did at the time.
The contract was authorized by Chau, the then-director of the Health Care Agency and county health officer, according to Guevara. Chau told LAist that since the contract was small, it was unlikely to have been something he followed closely.
He added later via text message that his primary concern at the time was responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. "I had to rely on my department head to do their job on small contracts," he wrote.
In business filings with the state, Batres is listed as the CEO, CFO and secretary of TalentGate, the company Mind OC hired to fulfill the contract. TalentGate’s city business license listed it as a “home office for human resource consulting” located in San Gabriel at the time of the contract. Batres and Wangsaporn lived at the company’s address at the time they were married in late 2021, according to their marriage certificate.
TalentGate's LinkedIn profile says it’s a human resources company that addresses “organizational bottlenecks across the employee lifecycle.” Mental health is not listed in the "specialties" section of the company profile.
The county Health Care Agency says it never received the required reports detailing the results of the contract work. Guevara, the agency’s spokesperson, told LAist in an email that the county’s behavioral health team does not know whether the listening sessions were carried out and has no records showing how the money was spent.
“The funds were paid to [Mind OC],” Guevara wrote. “No details on what [Mind OC] did after that.”
She said the $275,000 was funded by the Mental Health Services Act, a voter-approved tax that’s meant to pay for mental health services, including treatment and prevention.
Pandemic contracting rules
In most cases, government contracts are subject to competitive bidding. Before the pandemic, county rules required a vote from the O.C. Board of Supervisors for all non-competitive service contracts (also called “no-bid” contracts) above $75,000 per year.
But starting in March 2020 the board waived this and other rules for awarding contracts, in order to fast-track hiring vendors for “services related to the COVID-19 Emergency.” Instead, for about the first year of the pandemic, county staff were allowed to award large contracts outside public view. In some cases that was done in response to requests by individual supervisors.
The state has passed several reform laws in recent months inspired by LAist's investigation into millions in COVID funds awarded by Supervisor Do to Viet America Society with little oversight and no public disclosure of family ties.
The full O.C. Board of Supervisors must now take a public vote before awarding district discretionary funds to a nonprofit or community group, and the details of the agreements must be posted online.
Statewide, it will become a crime starting in January 2026 for elected officials to be involved in awarding government contracts to organizations if they know their adult child is an officer or director of the vendor, or if their adult child has at least 10% ownership.
Statewide, starting this coming January, all county supervisors will have to disclose any family ties to a nonprofit’s employees or officers before awarding public funds to the group.
The O.C. Board of Supervisors also directed its internal auditor to review all county contracts to ensure oversight and compliance, including those funded by federal COVID dollars. The auditor's report is due before the end of the year.
Payments from Viet America Society to Batres
Federal tax filings for Viet America Society — the nonprofit accused of fraud by the county — show it paid $40,000 to a company named "TalenGate" in 2020, based at the same home address as Batres’ company TalentGate. It was the organization's highest paid independent contractor that year, receiving $40,000, according to LAist's review of a VAS public tax filing.
That year, Viet America Society was funded by county dollars meant to feed needy seniors, which flowed to VAS through another nonprofit, Hand to Hand Relief Organization, according to public records obtained by LAist. The county also is suing Hand to Hand for alleged fraud in diverting those taxpayer funds in 2020, which Supervisor Do also had awarded.
The following year, VAS’ public tax filing shows it paid "TalenGate" another $10,000, while VAS’ financial ledger it filed with the county shows it paid the same amount to Batres herself in January 2021.
Reached by phone in April and this month, Batres declined to answer LAist’s questions about what the payments were for. VAS’ attorney, Mark Rosen, told LAist last week that he could not answer questions about them. The tax filings list the payments as being for “PUBLIC RELATION.” No further detail was provided.
Relationship between Chau and Mind OC
Chau worked as a high-level executive at Mind OC before he took over the county health agency in May 2020, according to a county news release about his hiring. Mind OC's public tax filing shows it paid Chau $133,000 that year for that work — the same year the agency awarded the no-bid contract at issue to Mind OC.
Mind OC has faced recent troubles in its relationships with the county and O.C. cities.
In August, the county abruptly canceled a major contractwith the group to manage the county's signature mental health campus, Be Well, in the city of Orange. That contract was ended a little over two years into a three-year, $63.8-million deal with the county. The rupture came after an audit found Mind OC failed to provide proper oversight of mental health and substance use treatment services on the campus.
In a joint statement, the county and Mind OC said the decision was "based on an ever-evolving public, private partnership model."
Additionally, two cities, Newport Beach and Anaheim, recently canceled their contracts with Mind OC to provide mobile mental health crisis response to residents. Newport Beach City Councilmember Lauren Kleiman told LAist the service hadn't been effective in getting unhoused people with mental health problems off the streets.
"Given the voluntary nature of street outreach, the data over the past year did not demonstrate their ability to produce street exits in a way that justified the use of taxpayer funds to extend the contract," Kleiman wrote in an email to LAist in late August.
When asked about Anaheim ending the contract in September, Mind OC CEO Franks told LAist in a statement that the organization and the city had mutually agreed to sunset their agreement. A spokesperson for Anaheim said the city no longer needed the services.
Supervisor Do’s ties to Mind OC
Mind OC was formed in 2018 to coordinate a public-private network of mental health providers and resources known collectively as Be Well OC. The concept arose, in part, from a Board of Supervisors ad hoc mental health committee formed in 2015 and run by Supervisor Do and then-Supervisor Lisa Bartlett. At the time Mind OC was created, the county was under fire for failing to spend state funds allocated for mental health services, and for the severe shortage of psychiatric care available to residents.
Supervisor Do has been a consistent champion of Mind OC and Be Well. In a video posted earlier this year to his YouTube channel, Supervisor Do dates the origin of Be Well to a meeting seven years ago between himself, county health care leaders, and Dr. Richard Afable, a former Hoag Hospital CEO who has been Mind OC’s board president since the group was formed in 2018.
O.C. Supervisor Andrew Do (left) and Dr. Richard Afable, the president of the Mind OC board of directors, speak in a 2024 video about the Be Well campus under construction in Irvine.
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O.C. Supervisor Andrew Do's YouTube page
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The highly produced video features Supervisor Do and Afable — in hard hats and bright yellow vests — signing beams at the construction site of a planned Be Well campus in Irvine. Do and other supervisors have awarded the organization at least $40 million in public funds to build that second campus.
Afable did not respond to a request for comment.
In May, the county signed an additional $95 million, three-year contract with Mind OC to run the Irvine campus, starting in January.
How to watchdog local government
One of the best things you can do to hold officials accountable is pay attention.
Your city council, board of supervisors, school board and more all hold public meetings that anybody can attend. These are times you can talk to your elected officials directly and hear about the policies they’re voting on that affect your community.
Flames from the Palisades Fire burns a home during a powerful windstorm on January 8, 2025 in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.
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Apu Gomes
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Getty Images
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Topline:
Federal prosecutors will pursue fewer charges in their second attempt to convict a man accused of starting the deadly 2025 wildfire that became the most destructive in Los Angeles’ history.
The backstory: A jury deadlocked in June over whether to convict Jonathan Rinderknecht of intentionally sparking the fire that killed 12 people as it incinerated much of the Pacific Palisades and other neighborhoods in Malibu.
Federal prosecutors will pursue fewer charges in their second attempt to convict a man accused of starting the deadly 2025 wildfire that became the most destructive in Los Angeles’ history.
A jury deadlocked in June over whether to convict Jonathan Rinderknecht of intentionally sparking the fire that killed 12 people as it incinerated much of the Pacific Palisades and other neighborhoods in Malibu. Ten out of 12 jurors wanted to acquit him on all three felony charges, leading the judge to declare a mistrial. Federal prosecutors vowed to try again, and a second trial is set to start in the fall.
In a new indictment filed Thursday, prosecutors reduced their case against Rinderknecht to two charges and narrowed their scope.
Prosecutors allege that Rinderknecht used a barbecue lighter on Jan. 1, 2025, to spark a fire that burned undetected deep in root systems before flaring back up Jan. 7 to become the Palisades fire, which destroyed more than 6,800 buildings.
All three charges in the first trial blamed Rinderknecht for setting both the Jan. 1 fire and the Palisades Fire. In the new indictment, only one charge references both fires. The other only focuses on the destruction caused by the first fire.
Rinderknecht’s attorney and a spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office declined to comment on the new indictment. U.S. District Judge Anne Hwang is holding a status conference for an arraignment on Wednesday.
Throughout the first trial, prosecutors argued that Rinderknecht was the only person in the area when the Jan. 1 fire began and presented a digital trail seeking to show he was motivated by a desire to take revenge on society over rampant economic inequality. They also presented hours of recorded interviews with Rinderknecht in which he offered inconsistent recollections about his movements that night.
Rinderknecht’s attorneys argued that prosecutors lacked direct evidence showing that he started the fire and that they failed to consider fireworks as a potential cause of the first fire.
What’s happened in 1st year of Andrew Do’s lockup?
Nick Gerda
is an accountability reporter who has covered local government in Southern California for more than a decade.
Published August 14, 2026 4:00 PM
Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do at a board of supervisors meeting on Nov. 28, 2023.
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Nick Gerda / LAist
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Topline:
Saturday marks one year since former Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do started his prison term, after pleading guilty to taking bribes to award tax dollars to people who diverted $7.9 million that was supposed to feed needy seniors during the pandemic. What’s happened since Do went to federal lockup? How much money has been recouped for taxpayers? And will he and his family pay back the bribe money? Here’s what we know.
Prison time is shortening: In the year since he started his sentence, Do’s prison term has been shortened by five months, according to the federal prison system’s website. Federal law allows many prisoners to reduce their prison time by completing various classes, trainings and programs.
How much money has been recovered? The amount of taxpayer money recovered so far is less than half of the $7.9 million Andrew Do admitted was diverted from meal dollars.
More questionable spending: Forensic audits, commissioned by the county, found Do and his top aide had a longstanding pattern of misspending public money far beyond the focus of the criminal case. The audit also details the numerous times that top county officials were alerted to, but didn’t act on, potential irregularities regarding millions in county funds awarded to a nonprofit connected to Andrew Do’s daughter, Rhiannon Do.
Listen
0:34
LISTEN: How much tax money has been recovered since Andrew Do went to prison?
Saturday marks one year since former Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do started his prison term, after pleading guilty to taking bribes to award tax dollars to people who diverted $7.9 million that was supposed to feed needy seniors during the pandemic.
About $4 million has been recovered so far as a result of the criminal probe, which was prompted by an LAist investigation.
What’s happened since Do went to federal lockup? How much money has been recouped for taxpayers? And will he and his family pay back the bribe money? Here’s what we know.
How much longer will Andrew Do be in prison?
Do was sentenced to five years in federal prison, which he has been serving at United States Penitentiary, Tucson since Aug. 15 of last year.
His original release date was set for four and a quarter years later, in November 2029. Federal prisoners serve 85% of their sentence if they maintain good behavior, under a nationwide law.
In the year since he started his sentence, Do’s prison term has been shortened by an additional five months, with a new release date of mid-June 2029, according to the federal prison system’s website. Federal law allows many prisoners to further reduce their prison time by completing various classes, trainings and programs.
A spokesperson for the prison system declined to answer specific questions about Do’s time at the facility, saying, “We cannot comment on the conditions of confinement of any individual.”
How much money has been recovered?
The amount of taxpayer money recovered so far is a bit less than half of the $7.9 million Do admitted was diverted from tax dollars he awarded to a newly formed group that was supposed to feed needy seniors during the pandemic.
The county allegeseven more — at least $13.4 million — was lost due to the scheme, and that much of it was “plundered” into multiple home purchases in Tustin and elsewhere by various alleged co-conspirators.
Of the $3.7 million recovered and returned to the county, the vast majority was from the main nonprofit and business accused of bribing Do. County supervisors are deferring to Do’s successor, Supervisor Janet Nguyen, to recommend how to spend the money.
More than a decade ago, Nguyen was Do’s mentor and boss when she was supervisor the first time and Do was her chief of staff. She helped him win election to her supervisor seat, before the two had a bitter falling out by 2016. The animosity grew so intense that in 2018 the county Republican Party’s then-chair emailed Do, a fellow Republican, to tell him to immediately stop publicly attacking Nguyen, another Republican, as she ran for reelection to the state Senate.
So far, Nguyen’s gotten approval from her fellow county supervisors to allocate $500,000 of the recovered funds to compensate residents affected by multiday evacuations over a Garden Grove chemical tank that was at risk of exploding. Nguyen has said she wants the chemical tank company to reimburse the county for it.
The county is trying to get back more of the stolen tax dollars from the scheme through an ongoing civil lawsuit against Do, his youngest daughter Rhiannon Do and others alleged to have been involved. The trial is set for late 2027.
What’s happened to Andrew Do’s alleged co-conspirators?
Federal prosecutors have an ongoing criminal case against two of Andrew Do’s alleged co-conspirators: Peter Pham — who led the nonprofit Viet America Society that handled most of the meal money — and Thanh Huong Nguyen, who led the nonprofit Hand to Hand Relief Organization that also handled meal money directed by the former supervisor.
Federal authorities say Peter Pham remains a fugitive, after flying to Taipei in December 2024, a few months after authorities executed a search warrant at his home.
Following several postponements, Nguyen’s trial is scheduled to start in February.
If she’s convicted, federal prosecutors plan to seek restitution payments, according to Ciaran McEvoy, the U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesperson.
What about Andrew Do’s family?
During the first part of Andrew Do’s scheme, his wife, Cheri Pham was the supervising judge over Orange County’s largest criminal courts, before being promoted to the number-two judge position at the county Superior Court.
As assistant presiding judge, she was on track to become the presiding judge, but in mid-2024 decided not to run amid the controversy swirling around her husband. She now oversees divorce and domestic violence cases in Orange County’s family court, where she started her judicial career. She has not been charged with any wrongdoing.
The Orange County District Attorney’s Office hired Rhiannon Do as an intern in early 2024 after LAist reported that her father routed millions in unaccounted-for dollars to an organization she was listed as helping lead. The internship ended about three months later. Six months later, the DA’s office and federal prosecutors agreed to a diversion agreement that avoided charges against Rhiannon Do, in exchange for her admitting to mortgage fraud and giving up her ownership of the Tustin home that was purchased as a bribe to her father.
Last year, Rhiannon Do graduated from law school and passed the bar exam that’s required to become an attorney in California. She is not currently listed as an attorney on the state bar’s website. To become an attorney, people must also pass a moral character review that looks, among other things, at any past fraud accusations and cases involving the applicant. That review is confidential.
Ilene Do, Andrew Do’s oldest daughter, previously worked as a customer engagement coordinator at Moulton Niguel Water District and left sometime before late 2024, the water district previously told LAist.
Kate Corrigan, an attorney for Cheri Pham, said she and Cheri Pham do not have any comment. Andrew Do, Rhiannon Do and Ilene Do did not respond to requests for comment from LAist through their attorneys.
Other problems found with Andrew Do’s direction of tax dollars?
In the wake of the Andrew Do scandal, his former colleagues on the county Board of Supervisors commissioned a series of forensic audit reports by an outside firm into the broader picture of county contract spending during the pandemic.
The audit found Andrew Do and his chief of staff at the time, Chris Wangsaporn, undermined procedures meant to prevent abuse of county money, while using their influence to steer taxpayer contracts to friends, family and businesses — often with little information about the services being provided. Those contractors would then donate to his election campaigns “shortly after,” auditors found.
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Among its many findings, the first report found Andrew Do routed hundreds of thousands more dollars than previously reported to companies affiliated with Peter Pham.
The audit’s second phase, released this week, identified more questionable spending directed by Andrew Do, including a $500,000 grant to the company of Frank Jao, a major real estate developer in Little Saigon. That taxpayer contract never required the company, Bridgecreek Realty Investment Corp., to provide supporting documentation for how the money was spent — such as invoices or receipts, according to the audit. In the end, there is no documentation for how more than half of the taxpayer funds were used, it says.
The audit also details numerous times that top county officials did not act after they were alerted to potential irregularities regarding millions in county funds awarded to Viet America Society, the nonprofit connected to Rhiannon Do. The audit details an occasion in which Clayton Chau, the former county healthcare director who asked that money be routed to Rhiannon Do’s clinic at the nonprofit, reprimanded a subordinate for raising concerns.
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Gillian Morán Pérez
is an associate producer for LAist’s midday All Things Considered show.
Published August 14, 2026 2:00 PM
Susan Egan singing 'I Won't Say I'm in Love' at Destination D23 in Florida, 2025.
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Courtesy of Disney/DD23
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Topline:
This weekend, Susan Egan is being honored at the D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event in Anaheim as a Disney Legend along with more than a dozen actors, composers and other contributors.
What you know her from: She’s best known as the voice of Megara in "Hercules" and the original Belle in the Broadway version of "Beauty and the Beast." She was also the first actor to play a Disney princess on Broadway in 1994, and said at the time it was a risky decision.
A SoCal connection: Egan’s relationship with the world of Disney started at a young age. She grew up in Seal Beach, less than an hour away from Disneyland, and says her mother would take her and her siblings to the park on a school day every year.
Details on the event: D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event runs this weekend Aug. 14 through Aug. 16 at the Anaheim Convention Center. There will be performances and panels from the cast and producers of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Simpsons, Camp Rock 3 and others.
Read on... for more about Egan's work and impact.
Susan Egan is a trailblazer in the Disney world.
She’s best known as the voice of Megara in "Hercules" and the original Belle in the Broadway version of "Beauty and the Beast."
This weekend, Egan is being honored at the D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event in Anaheim as a Disney Legend along with more than a dozen actors, composers and other contributors.
Egan’s relationship with the world of Disney started at a young age. She grew up in Seal Beach, less than an hour away from Disneyland, and says her mother would take her and her siblings to the park on a school day every year.
“It just never occurred to me that you could actually work for that company, that could be what you do for a living,” Egan told LAist “It just seemed like play all the time.”
She was the first actor to play a Disney princess on Broadway in 1994, and said at the time it was a risky decision.
“We really didn't know if it was going to work. In essence, taking a cartoon and bringing it to the live audience, having to change some of the mythology because, you know, we can't be a 10-inch tall teapot. You have to be a full human-sized teapot,” said Egan.
But she says the audience loved the Broadway production as much as they loved the movie.
She went on to voice the sharp-tongued Megara from "Hercules," who she calls a “Disney heroine ahead of her time.”
“Honestly her flaws are what make her so relatable. I hear from a lot of young women ‘Oh Meg, I could relate to Meg.’ I go, ‘Me too. Honestly yeah, string of bad boyfriends, same.'”
Egan has harnessed her love for Disney into her production company, 10th & Main, with producing partner Adam J. Levy. Together they’ve produced Disney Princess: The Concert, which has toured across five continents, the recurring production aboard Disney cruise ships called Broadway Star Series and other programs.
10th & Main is also putting together a show for the D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event this weekend called Disney Rewind Concerts. Egan says it’s celebrating the Disney movies from the ‘80s and ‘90s.
“ We have the voice of Goofy, Bill Farmer, and Jodi Benson, the voice of Little Mermaid, is in the concert. We've got Disney icon Jim Cummings, who's the voice of 400 Disney characters,” said Egan. It’s happening on Friday and Saturday night and will be streamed on Disney+.
D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event runs this weekend Aug. 14 through Aug. 16 at the Anaheim Convention Center. There will be performances and panels from the cast and producers of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Simpsons, Camp Rock 3 and others.
Libby Rainey
has been tracking how L.A. is preparing for the 2028 Olympic Games.
Published August 14, 2026 1:13 PM
President of the Los Angeles City Council, Marqueese Harris-Dawson at a city council meeting in April, 2025.
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Samanta Helou Hernandez
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LAist
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Topline:
L.A. City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson filed a motion Wednesday asking the private Olympics organizing committee LA28 to commit to giving some Olympic contracts to businesses in the city of Los Angeles specifically.
Why it matters: The 2028 Olympics and Paralympics in Los Angeles will cost billions to put on, but there are currently no guarantees that any of that business will go to companies or small businesses in the city of Los Angeles. That's a problem for local officials, who point out that the city of L.A. is the host and financial backer of the Games and should therefore reap the benefits.
The background: The move responds to critiques of LA28's procurement plan, which council members in April warned could end up leaving out the city of Los Angeles entirely.
LA28 says it's aiming to keep 75% of its spending in the Greater L.A. area, and put 25% towards small businesses. Its procurement plan pledges to prioritize "hyperlocal" businesses in the city of L.A., but makes no explicit promises. Instead, it identifies "local" as anywhere in L.A., Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties.
Read on… for what LA28 is saying.
The 2028 Olympics and Paralympics in Los Angeles will cost billions to put on, but there are currently no guarantees that any of that business will go to companies or small businesses in the city of Los Angeles.
That's a problem for local officials, who point out that the city of L.A. is the host and financial backer of the Games and should therefore reap the benefits.
Olympic contracts for things like IT services, cleaning and construction for the Games are worth up to $4 billion, according to LA28. L.A. City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson filed a motion Wednesday asking the private Olympics organizing committee LA28 to commit to giving some of those contracts to businesses in the city specifically.
The move responds to critiques of LA28's procurement plan, which council members in April warned could end up leaving out the city of Los Angeles entirely.
LA28 says it's aiming to keep 75% of its spending in the Greater L.A. area, and put 25% towards small businesses. Its procurement plan pledges to prioritize "hyperlocal" businesses in the city of L.A., but makes no explicit promises. Instead, it identifies "local" as anywhere in L.A., Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties.
Harris-Dawson's motion would direct city staff to request LA28 go further, developing an L.A.-specific spending commitment.
"There is no assurance that Olympic-related spending will meaningfully benefit Los Angeles businesses, workers, and communities in proportion to the City's role as host," the motion reads in part.
The motion still needs to get through council, but there are indications that it will meet an unwilling LA28.
LA28 CEO Reynold Hoover told the city council earlier this year that organizers would prioritize city businesses, but that he would not commit to a plan that would limit LA28's financial options.
"If I focus solely, first and foremost, on the city of L.A. for small business, then I am artificially reducing the pool of competition, placing greater risk on the city taxpayers and placing greater risk on the backstop of the city of L.A.," Hoover said.
The motion reflects the latest way city leaders are trying to limit risk and increase rewards for Los Angeles, which is on the hook for a potentially large amount of money if the 2028 Olympics and Paralympics are a financial failure.
