OC Power Authority’s Half-Step Toward Transparency

On April 16, 2021, Irvine Watchdog reported transparency concerns with the Orange County Power Authority (OCPA). Meeting videos were not provided on the City of Irvine’s OCPA website as of January 12, 2021. In response to requests from members of the public and Mayor Farrah Khan, Director Mike Carroll announced at the June 9, 2021 OCPA meeting that “starting today and going forward, we will be recording our Board meetings of the OCPA and providing them on our website [OCPower.org].” The OCPA will also be upgrading their website in the months to come.

While we should be thankful for this step toward increased transparency, all previous meeting videos from December 16, 2020 – May 11, 2021 are missing and were not addressed. These were foundational meetings discussing salaries, CEO/COO hiring, funding, and recruitment of participating cities. Keeping the entire contents of these meetings private prevents the public from examining the manner in which these decisions were made.