ORANGE COUNTY — California state legislators decided on October 16, 2025, to retain OC Supervisors Vicente Sarmiento and Janet Nguyen on the CalOptima board. This decision followed Assemblyman Avelino Valencia's unsuccessful attempt to remove them through a proposed bill.

Valencia's proposed legislation aimed to replace supervisor board members with county department heads. He also sought to remove the supervisors' ability to select board members, proposing instead a selection committee composed of an assemblyman, state senator, and congressman. Valencia stated, "Removing the supervisors and placing selection in independent hands de-politicizes the board and keeps its governance separate from politics." He added that these reforms would keep the board focused on "looking out for the people CalOptima serves."

Valencia said his bill was prompted by "the well-documented, politically charged issues that have surrounded this board in recent years." However, supervisors said that Valencia's legislative effort began after he could not receive a returned phone call from the county during the Garden Grove chemical tank incident. Maura Byron, CalOptima Vice Chair, said, "Part of me says I think CalOptima should be insulated from day to day political pressure and I think this is really evident right now." She added that the people who need to make decisions are "healthcare professionals, people who have skin in the game."

Supervisor Sarmiento said during a supervisors meeting that "Today, CalOptima is arguably the strongest and most stable it's been," adding that this stability is "something we can be proud of." By Wednesday evening, Valencia had removed the provisions to remove supervisors from the board from his bill. His revised bill included a call for another audit of the agency.

Why It Matters

This decision means that Orange County supervisors will continue to serve on the CalOptima board, maintaining the existing governance structure of the agency, which provides healthcare services to over 960,000 low-income residents in the county. The debate surrounding Valencia's bill showed differing views on effective governance for the health plan, with some advocating for more independent oversight and others emphasizing the current board's stability and performance.