Andrew Do is out, Janet Nguyen is in. What does that mean for District 1 in Orange County?

Orange County’s newest supervisor, Janet Nguyen, says she has “zero tolerance for corruption and fraud” as she takes over the seat vacated by her disgraced predecessor, Andrew Do, who recently resigned after agreeing to plead guilty to a scheme to steal millions of taxpayer dollars.

In an interview with LAist shortly after her private swearing in ceremony this week, Nguyen also said her top priorities are cleaning up shop, and prioritizing families that have been “destroyed financially by this economy.”

Nguyen’s official term starts in January, but she took office early because the seat was vacant and the O.C. Board of Supervisors accepted the results and declared her the winner.

Do served in the seat for nearly a decade before resigning. Since November of last year, LAist has reported how Do directed county contracts and millions of taxpayer dollars to a nonprofit, Viet America Society (VAS), linked to his daughter, Rhiannon Do. The money was meant to feed seniors during the pandemic and to build a Vietnam War memorial. But federal prosecutors say just 15% of the money earmarked for meals was actually used for that purpose.

Prioritizing efficiency

“There is a new sheriff in town,” Nguyen told LAist.

Cost of living is high, she said, and for families that means grocery trips have become more expensive and many can’t afford to go out for a meal. Nguyen said she wants to make sure their tax dollars are spent wisely and will be looking at “what programs are working, what aren't working.”

She said she also wants to “streamline processes” so business owners get permits quickly or homeowners can apply for tax assessments in a timely manner.

“If you (residents) need access to county programs, county offices, we need to be able to respond and we need to be able to get them into these application process(es) and getting them approval, because this is the time when our residents need us, we need to step up,” Nguyen said.

Nguyen added that she will lean into county programs that are working, and shutter the ones that aren’t.

“We need to look at all the waste, and we need to cut,” she said. “I want to make sure that we prioritize tax dollars.”

The county, she noted, is currently spending close to $1 billion on the unhoused community each year, but homelessness has only increased.

“It isn't working because the numbers keep on going up and not going down,” Nguyen said. “We need to look at these programs.”

To address homelessness, Nguyen said she wants to work with cities.

“We should empower the cities to let them come to us, give us a plan on how they're going to combat the homeless population in their city. Could it be they need a couple more police officers, a wraparound program, maybe a sober living center?” she said. “If you're looking at a home, maybe some more affordable housing, tell us what you need.”

Restoring trust

Do’s seat has been vacant since the end of October when he resigned with Chairman Don Wagner’s office overseeing District 1’s needs in the meantime. Before that, Do had missed consecutive Board of Supervisors meetings after federal agents raided a home he owned with his wife, O.C. Superior Court Assistant Presiding Judge Cheri Pham, in August.

A spokesperson for Wagner’s office told LAist that two staff members who were assigned to interface with constituents reported fielding no concerns of note or anything pertaining to the Do scandal.

Still, Nguyen said her team is going to be busy in the coming weeks getting debriefed on constituent issues.

“I want to restore trust in our county government,” she said. “This will come when residents see how hard I'm working to safeguard their finances, the county's finances, and the taxpayers.”

Nguyen also said she wants to ensure the county audits “everything Andrew Do touched.”

Earlier this week, the Board of Supervisors voted to move ahead with hiring an outside firm to conduct a forensic audit of all contracts executed by the County Executive Office, Health Care Agency, OC Community Resources and Social Services Agency between January 2019 and August 2024. The audit was in response to the Do corruption scandal.

Nguyen said she’ll look at the parameters of the audit and the reforms the supervisors have passed since the corruption scandal broke to see whether they need to be expanded.

Based on direction from the board in September, county officials are also reviewing contracts funded by federal COVID dollars. They were given 90 days to come back with their findings.