Approved Minutes of September 24, 2025

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MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH September 24, 2025 Feedback received from board members in advance of the meeting included that, as this is a fairly politicized topic, some of the news sources for the references may be seen as controversial or untrustworthy. Dr. Pickett said that she does not have a problem with the resources, as she feels that what may be controversial to some would be acceptable to others and vice versa; Dr. Stuebe noted that there is a wide gamut of sources cited, including Fox News, Newsweek, and the Atlantic, so she doesn't feel this is a problem unless someone had a specific complaint. Ms. Phillips-Weiner added that she had also received feedback that the references and resources are a little long and these may benefit from being slimmed down. Dr. Stuebe noted that readers who like references will appreciate having a lot of them, while those who don't like references won't look at them, a point for which several other board members expressed support. Dr. Crandell commented that with many references, he feels like he cannot read or sometimes even access them all, to which Mr. Whitaker said that it is important to have a reference to support each of the claims the resolution is making. He added that he did not think it was necessary for board members to be familiar with the full details of each reference. Mr. Whitaker commented on the phrasing of"a climate of fear has grown due to ICE activities, including multiple instances of detaining documented immigrants and U.S. citizens who were mistakenly believed to be undocumented immigrants," noting that this seemed a little qualitative and possibly inflammatory. Through discussion, the group suggested changing the phrasing to "increased ICE activities have included multiple instances of detaining documented immigrants and U.S. citizens who were mistakenly believed to be undocumented immigrants." Dr. Baldwin observed that the capitalization of"health department" is not consistent and suggested ensuring that it is made clear when it is being used as a proper noun vs. health departments in general. Dr. Stuebe suggested using "a public health department" or"any public health department" when speaking generally. The Access to Care Committee will revise the draft resolution based on this feedback and share it for further input in advance of the October meeting, where it will be presented for a vote. Ms. Phillips-Weiner invited board members to send any additional feedback to her by October 20t" to allow time to compile and present to the full Board at the time of the vote. B. Resolution on Affordable Housing Supply Ms. Phillips-Weiner presented the Resolution Promoting the Development of Adequate Affordable Housing on behalf of the Connections to Community Support Committee. Dr. Stuebe shared that she and Dr. Royce had discussed approaches to streamline the resolution prior to the meeting. Dr. Royce suggested creating four main whereas statements organized by key points— housing is a human right, housing is an issue in Orange County, being unhoused harms health, and being unhoused costs money— and including more details in bullet points within these. She also recommended removing eight of the "whereas" bullet points, which she felt were interesting but not relevant to the core message of the resolution. Dr. Pickett shared minor corrections for two typos in the resolution. Dr. Royce commented that some of the language felt more colorful than necessary, for example referring to the lack of affordable housing in Orange County as "a public health crisis." Through S:\Managers Working Files\BOH\Agendas &Abstracts\2025 Agenda and Abstracts/ September Page 4