Foley, Dixon outline coastal plans and dispute landfill vote

Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley and Assemblywoman Diane Dixon outlined coastal protection and transportation priorities while disputing the meaning of Foley’s landfill construction vote in their District 5 election contest. Both oppose doubling daily trash intake at Prima Deshecha Landfill, according to a questionnaire published Thursday by Voice of OC.

The race puts coastal erosion, rail protection and landfill operations before voters in the county’s coastal fifth district. The candidates’ answers also address residents’ concerns about landfill dust, noise, traffic and air quality, along with safer ways to walk and bike.

Democrat Foley is seeking re-election against Republican Dixon. County employee unions financed most advertising supporting Foley through independent expenditures, while the Lincoln Club was Dixon’s largest source of that support, Voice of OC reported. The club spent nearly $400,000 opposing Foley.

Dixon called for a regional coastal strategy built around dependable sand supplies and coordinated state and federal funding. Foley said she helped secure more than $300 million for coastal rail protection, updated the county’s erosion plan and supported using sediment from flood channels to replenish beaches.

Dixon criticized Foley’s vote for an $88 million project to expand the landfill’s physical capacity. She called for tighter monitoring and enforcement, along with better responses to residents’ complaints, according to Voice of OC.

Foley said her 2023 construction-contract vote carried out a plan approved in 2001 and paid for a liner and systems to collect gas and manage drainage. She said it did not authorize doubling daily trash intake and that the board had not voted on the proposal to increase daily tonnage.

On transportation, Dixon supported practical connections for walking, biking and transit but cautioned against removing lanes without assessing traffic effects. Foley backed protected bicycle lanes and adapting flood channels for active transportation where feasible.

Voice of OC said it gave both candidates the same policy questions and offered Foley a chance to address Dixon’s criticism of her landfill vote. Dixon was offered an opportunity to answer Foley’s rebuttal but did not respond, according to the publication’s editor’s note.

The landfill dispute centers on how the candidates characterize the earlier construction approval, not on whether they support doubling daily intake: Both said they oppose that increase.