The Brief

Yorba Linda is a mostly residential city that straddles the 90 freeway in northeastern Orange County. Its most prominent institution is the Richard Nixon Presidential Library. The city was the birthplace of the former president.

Nearly half the population is registered Republican, according to the secretary of state. Another 24% are independent. President Donald Trump won the city by a bigger margin than any other city in Orange County with 59% of the vote.

“We really identify as a conservative community,” said Jon Fleischman, who's lived in Yorba Linda for about seven years. “For me, having a Republican in Congress means somebody else who believes that the government should be small, that we should rely on individual liberty and freedom.”

The quiet suburban community with a population of nearly 70,000 people has been represented by a Republican in Congress for at least 50 years, said Fleischman, who publishes a blog on California politics.

Proposition 50, the redistricting measure on the November ballot, would change that.

Under the Democratic redistricting measure, GOP strongholds across the state would be broken up — or consolidated — to create more Democratic congressional districts, angering Republicans who say Prop 50 is an unfair power grab.

The proposed political boundaries, drawn by Democrats, come in response to redistricting in Texas. That state recently redrew political lines to create more Republican districts at the behest of President Donald Trump.

It's all an effort by the two parties to gain control of the House of Representatives. For Democrats, control of the house would mean they would have the power to block some of President Trump’s agenda. For Republicans, it would mean continuing unabated the president’s plans.

Shrinking Republican Representation

Right now, Yorba Linda is represented by Republican Congressmember Young Kim.

Proposition 50 would split the city in half, leaving one half represented by Democrat Linda Sanchez and the other by Democrat Derek Tran.

“They’re drawing these tentacles into the different Republican communities and breaking them up so that there’s not one group of Republicans together to elect someone to Congress in the area anymore,” Fleischman said.

Of California’s 52 members of Congress, nine are Republican. If voters approve Proposition 50, that number would likely drop to four, giving Democrats an additional five seats, according to supporters.

“The remaining California Republican delegation can all commute to the capital in one car,” Fleischman quipped.

That means fewer than 8% of congressional representatives would be Republican. This is in a state where 25% of registered voters are Republican and 38% of the state voted for President Trump in the 2024 election.

Democratic supporters of Proposition 50 make no apologies.

“These are unusual times and unprecedented circumstances that require Proposition 50 that levels the playing field,” said Rusty Hicks, chair of the California Democratic Party. “Its a temporary measure.”

“Its really part of a national fight,” he added, echoing Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is leading the fight for Prop 50.

Chair of the Orange County Republican Party Will O’Neill called the proposed lines in California “gross.”

O’Neill said it's not just that fewer Republicans would be represented by Republicans in Congress.

Under the measure, Orange County would be represented by eight different members of Congress instead of the current six, he said.

“We are going to have a much harder time here in Orange County getting our federal representatives to care as much about our issues in Orange County as we do right now,” O’Neill argued.

Two previously competitive districts in Orange County would become solidly Democratic.

“You’re much more likely to have hyper-partisan representatives that don’t represent their full community when you have hyper-partisan lines being drawn,” O’Neill said.

'A really modest approach'

The political boundaries proposed in Proposition 50 would replace boundaries drawn by an independent redistricting commission. California started using independent redistricting commissions to draw districts in 2010, taking that power away from elected officials who previously were creating their own districts. The whole idea was to prevent politicians from gerrymandering.

An independent commission would resume drawing the districts after the 2030 census.

The architect of Proposition 50’s boundaries, Democratic consultant Paul Mitchell, defends his maps.

“Its hard to make an argument that these maps are objectively somehow worse than the commission maps on the criteria that is the normal redistricting criteria,” he said.

For example, he said the proposed map is comparable to the current map when it comes to keeping cities and counties intact.

The current plan keeps 31 counties intact, while the proposed plan preserves the boundaries of 30 counties. The two plans include the same share of intact cities (88% in each, though the lists of split cities differ), according to the Public Policy Institute of California.

The current map also includes 16 majority-Latino districts, the same as the Prop 50 plan. Neither Black nor Asian Californians have a majority district in either plan.

“The approach taken is actually a really modest approach,” Mitchell said.

He noted 80% of the state's population will remain in their current congressional districts.

It seems it's only the GOP that suffers under Proposition 50.

“Its one of the biggest partisan gerrymanders in the country,” said Eric McGhee, policy director and senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California. “They’d be winning upwards of 90 percent of the seats with just about 60 percent of the vote,” referring to Democrats.

“It doesn’t seem to be about fairness,” he said.

McGee noted Democrats would likely end up with fewer House seats nationally if other states follow Texas and California. He said there are more Republican states ready to redistrict than Democratic ones.

Redistricting Commission members are conflicted

Members of the Independent Redistricting Commission are divided over Proposition 50.

“It doesn't bring me any joy to see these maps potentially going away,” said Sara Sadhwani, a professor of politics at Pomona College who served on the most recent commission. “That being said, I am not of the belief that California's democracy is on the line necessarily, as a state, but I am incredibly concerned about the state of democracy of the United States and the extreme use of executive power by President Trump.”

Jeanne Raya is the head of an insurance agency and lives in San Gabriel. She was the chair of California’s first independent redistricting commission.

“I’m very concerned that it’ll be too easy to declare another emergency four or five or six years down the road and find a reason to sideline the commission again, if not permanently,” she told LAist.

The fundraising so far marks one of the most expensive ballot measure efforts in California's history. Supporters have raised $88.6 million so far, while opponents have raised $40.1 million.

In Yorba Linda, Fleischman hopes Californians will follow the rule that two wrongs don’t make a right.

“That’s what we teach our kids. You see that person over there who is doing something bad. Don’t be like that person. But that’s exactly what’s going on here,” he said.

Looking ahead, he said if Proposition 50 does pass, he’ll invite his new Democratic representative for a tour of the Richard Nixon library.

Casa Leo is a small Spanish restaurant located in Los Feliz near Griffith Park, where Chef Joshua Whigham is quietly bringing his own fresh approach to Spanish cooking — one that's specific and ingredient-driven in a way you'd be hard-pressed to find anywhere else in the city.

Whigham spent 15 years working under José Andrés — the Michelin-starred, James Beard Award-winning Spanish chef — before striking out on his own a little over a year ago with Casa Leo. The restaurant has already been added to the Michelin Guide California and has built a reputation for a seasonal, genuine, personal approach. That shows up across the menu, from cocas (Iberian flatbreads) to a trout en escabeche dish inspired by Martín Berasategui, the Basque chef often credited as a pioneer of modern Spanish cuisine.

Paella drop

One Sunday each month, Whigham hosts a "paella drop," cooking the paella outside the restaurant on a propane rig built to fit the giant pan he uses. Originally open to just 20 guests, the pop-up has grown in popularity as word has spread — Whigham has incrementally raised the cap over time, and now cooks with an even larger pan that can accommodate up to 70 guests.

It’s a setup that gets a lot of attention. He recalls a group of cyclists zipping by one day, with one of them yelling, "Holy shit, that smells good."

Chef Joshua Whigham stands beside the finished paella, cooked on a custom propane rig large enough to hold his oversized pan.

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Courtesy CASA LEO

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"Paella is Spain's national dish," Whigham says — and for many Americans, it's the only regional dish they know by name. Most Americans picture one version of paella — chicken, shrimp, saffron-yellow rice — but the dish looks different depending on where in Spain you are. While the dish has roots in the southeastern region of Valencia, its ingredients and preparation vary widely throughout the country.

Showcasing that variety is one of Whigham’s aims. And he does it with strict adherence to tradition — he'll never include chorizo, since its heavy smoke and paprika flavors, he says, completely overpower the subtle, delicate taste of the saffron, broth and rice.

In August, the paella included market mushrooms, summer truffle, chicken and langoustine.

The next drop, on Sept. 20 (which just so happens to be World Paella Day), is a cuttlefish (sepia) paella.

Whigham wanted the drops to serve as an opportunity to activate the space in ways beyond regular brunch and dinner service.

Not a tourist menu

Whigham says people's exposure to Spanish cuisine often stops at gazpacho, jamón, and that one paella experience they had while studying abroad in college.

His approach, honed over almost two decades of cooking Spanish food, involves first surveying a dish's regional origins and then adapting it using Southern California ingredients, in a process Whigham calls "giving a traditional dish a sense of place."

"That's the path I'm on — taking traditional dishes and making them ours,” he adds.

A plated portion of Casa Leo's paella, served with a side of aioli and topped with edible flowers and microgreens.

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Casa Leo

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For example: marmitako, a humble Basque fisherman's dish traditionally made with tuna and potato, with a base consisting of tomato, bell pepper, red onion and fish stock. Whigham noticed poblano peppers were "exploding at the market" and swapped them in for the green bell peppers, using the same process and proportions — resulting in a richer tone, more of a capsicum flavor and a "nice low-key heat." Paired with the chili de árbol spice, it made the dish "warmer and richer and a little deeper in flavor."

Less than two years in, Whigham says the Michelin recognition was a lovely surprise. "We weren't looking for it," he says. "This is what I do. I don't know how to do anything else but this."

Still, he feels the weight of its importance: "A good restaurant, you feel it — the pulse of it, the heartbeat. That's what I want for people."

Voters in November will decide whether to make a sales tax increase, geared toward funding public safety, maintenance and youth programs, permanent.

In 2018, voters approved a 1.5% sales tax increase — dubbed Measure X. That rate was designed to decrease to 1% in 2029 before being eliminated in 2039. The tax provides more than $80 million in annual revenue. City officials said the tax dollars account for about 20% of the general fund.

LAist breaks down where those dollars have gone so far.

How much money has come in through the tax? 

The city has received nearly $500 million from the sales tax so far.

A large portion of the Measure X money — $166 million — went to “unrestricted” general revenue purposes. This is anything from building repairs and city events to arts programs and City Council aides.

The second-highest expense — sitting at nearly $123 million — went to public safety, which includes retaining firefighters and police officers.

Nearly $69 million falls under the third category called “Maintain Effective 9-1-1 Response,” and most of those dollars went to the Santa Ana Police Department.

About $57 million went toward addressing homelessness since 2019. Records show a large share of that money went to police response — about $48 million.

In the other categories, $14 million went to fix streets, $39 million to park maintenance and $12 million went to youth services.

You can find the full breakdown of Measure X dollars here.

General spending is the largest pot of money

Tim Johnson, chair of the Measure X Citizen Oversight Committee, said the tricky part of the sales tax is that it is general-purpose, unrestricted revenue, meaning the city can spend it however it sees best for residents.

“I don't know that all the voters understood that this truly is unrestricted revenue that's coming in though, and that's kind of probably the biggest issue,” Johnson told LAist. “The city, I think, is trying to do our best to let our residents know where the dollars are being spent. But it's a virtually impossible task to be able to track every single dollar that comes in and where it exactly is going because of this unrestricted general revenue.”

It’s especially an issue considering the ballot language led with firefighters, police, homelessness and youth — all categories that mean a lot to Santa Ana residents, Johnson added.

“That is the category that gets the bulk of this funding, and yet it was at probably the back end of most of our voters' [minds] when they were casting their ballot,” Johnson said. “And probably the same thing with the upcoming election. It's important to understand that this truly is unrestricted revenue.”

With this tax, he said, residents are putting a lot of trust in the City Council, city manager and finance department to be good fiduciaries of these funds.

“We're not only voting for the additional tax on ourselves, but we're voting to put our trust in the City Council that they're going to spend it wisely,” Johnson added.

Why it matters

Before the sales tax was approved in 2018, the city adopted a budget that required a $10 million dip in its reserves to maintain city services. At the time, the city was facing a growing structural deficit that, if ignored, could have ballooned to more than $30 million by 2020, according to city records.

Despite revenue generated from Measure X, the city has faced multimillion-dollar budget deficits in recent years.

This year, the city managed to close a $13 million deficit by making cuts across several departments, including police, public works, and parks and recreation.

Without the sales tax dollars, officials have warned that the city will have deeper cuts to make.

“The residents of Santa Ana have come to expect a certain level of service from the city that is largely dependent on Measure X dollars,” Mai Do, a Santa Ana resident and member of the Measure X Citizen Oversight Committee, told LAist. “So many of the services that we depend on and enjoy, including community improvements to parks and also library personnel, are funded through Measure X.”

Other cities, including Orange and San Clemente, are looking to voters for approval of their own sales tax measures to help bolster city coffers. Do said Santa Ana luckily is not panicking as much as other cities.

“Folks are expecting more from their local governments … in terms of providing services to everyone,” Do said. “When there's an expectation of having these services, cities need to be able to figure out how to actually meet that demand.”

What’s next? 

Santa Ana voters will be asked in November to make the sales tax permanent. If the measure fails, the tax rate will drop to 1% in 2029 as originally planned, meaning the city could miss out on about $30 million in revenue.

An astronaut who made news piloting a NASA spacecraft around the moon earlier this year is now planting his feet on the ground on the Central Coast.

Victor Glover is joining the executive staff at his alma mater, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. He’ll serve as an advisor to the university’s president and help shape research programs.

Glover graduated from Cal Poly in 1999 with an engineering degree. He was also on the football and wrestling teams.

Glover also met his wife, Dionna, while attending the school. All four of their daughters graduated from, or are currently attending, Cal Poly.

Glover was a Navy fighter pilot who became an important part of America’s modern-day space program. He lived on the International Space Station for 168 days, flew the SpaceX Crew Dragon, and piloted NASA’s Artemis II lunar orbit mission earlier this year.

Glover recently retired from the Navy and NASA.

This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.

California regulators ordered Health Net to fix how it’s handling the termination of assisted living services for low-income residents after the insurer’s abrupt decision left patients and providers scrambling. The state’s corrective action plan requires Health Net to extend services for all members until the end of the year, rather than stopping some as soon as October.

Health Net, one of the largest Medicaid insurers in the country, notified providers several months ago that it was ending its assisted living and home care services contracts. The services are optional under Medi-Cal — California’s version of Medicaid — meaning an insurer can decide annually whether it will continue coverage. Providers and family members said they got little or no warning, leaving them confused and panicked about finding other arrangements.

In an August letter to Health Net, the Department of Health Care Services cited eight deficiencies in the insurer’s handling of the change, including failure to submit transition plans for members, failure to move members to other medically appropriate care, and denying services to members. Regulators wrote that violations “jeopardize member safety, disrupt continuity of care, and endanger medically vulnerable members.”

If Health Net does not extend benefits and create individualized transition plans for each affected member, the state may fine them $25,000 per member per day of violation, the letter states.

Advocates and providers estimate about 3,500 Medi-Cal patients rely on Health Net to pay for assisted living costs. Most are elderly, and many have cognitive issues like dementia. Health Net operates Medi-Cal plans in 10 counties: Amador, Calaveras, Fresno, Inyo, Los Angeles, Mono, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Tulare.

In a statement to CalMatters, Health Net spokesperson Beatriz Lopez said the company still plans to end the services next year, but will now cover all members through the end of the year.

“Health Net and DHCS share a commitment to advancing the health and well-being of Medi-Cal members,” Lopez said.

Health Net has previously told CalMatters the assisted living benefit “has not led to better care” in terms of fewer emergency room visits or days hospitalized. The benefit is part of CalAIM, a broad state initiative to improve Medi-Cal services and save money by stabilizing high-cost users who frequently end up in emergency rooms. Lopez said Health Net would continue analyzing data and supporting services that result in better health outcomes.

Providers confirmed to CalMatters that their contracts would run through the end of the year.

Thousands still face January deadline

Hagar Dickman, director of long-term services and supports at Justice In Aging, said the state’s corrective action plan resolves the immediate crisis but fails to address the long-term problem: “Thousands of older Californians are still set to lose their housing on January 1st.”

Allowing health insurers to cancel housing-related benefits creates problems, Dickman said, because most assisted living residents have no other home to return to. Additionally, the Department of Health Care Services has stated that if a member moves to another insurer that still covers assisted living, continuity of care protections would no longer apply, meaning the new insurer might not approve the member's assisted living costs.

"It’s disingenuous to say there are protections and then say the protections don’t apply,” Dickman said. "So the option is skilled nursing or homelessness.”

Pauline Shatara, deputy director of California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, agreed that state protections are inadequate.

“It doesn’t sound like we found a solution to help pay for these people to remain where they are,” Shatara said.

Supported by the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF), which works to ensure that people have access to the care they need, when they need it, at a price they can afford. Visit www.chcf.org to learn more.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.