Orange County

Ouch. The N & O blog has published some strongly-worded comments from Orange County Commissioner Mike Nelson about this year's budget process, as well as an admission from Moses Carey that he planned it that way. On the one hand, this is Mike's first year on the Board of Commissioners, so maybe he just hasn't gotten the hang of how they do business. On the other hand, if he didn't have access to the budget in advance, how is the public supposed to be informed about what's going on?

After being told that Chairman Moses Carey and Vice Chairman Barry Jacobs were reviewing a draft work session for that night's meeting and that handouts on some of the topics would be distributed that night, Nelson wrote to Blackmon, Coffey and his fellow commissioners:

"With all due respect, we needed this information before now. I don't understand why I've had to ask for it. The public expects us to know what's going on and to come to these meetings prepared. How the hell can I come to this meeting prepared if I don't get the agenda until now?"

The Indy has a great investigative story this week about how a member of Orange County's committee studying whether the county should limit the practice of tethering dogs on chains or ropes has extensive ties to the dog fighting industry.

An excerpt from reporter Ashley Roberts' story:

When Alane Koki applied to become a member of an Orange County citizens' committee studying whether the county should limit the practice of tethering dogs on chains or ropes, she submitted a 13-page résumé citing numerous accomplishments as a scientist and medical researcher: a doctorate in zoology, a dozen patents, and publication in more than 50 journals.

What Koki didn't list in her application, however, was her long history of breeding pit bulls in other states and her association with local kennel owner Tom Garner, a nationally known breeder of pit bulls and a convicted dog fighter whom commissioners declined to appoint to the committee the same night they approved Koki.