New details emerged Wednesday in a WESH 2 News investigation of text messaging by Orange County commissioners during that key vote on a sick pay ballot measure.
The measure was defeated Sept. 11, but only now are some of the messages between elected leaders and the powerful lobbyists who apparently shot down the initiative being released.
The measure would have required businesses with more than 15 workers to offer paid sick time to all employees. The group gathered a petition to put the measure on the November ballot.
The messages show there were ongoing discussions before and during the public hearing on the sick pay referendum.
The head of the Orange County Republican Party also spelled out how he had been communicating with enough commissioners to have a majority reject the measure.
The measure failed by a 4 to 3 vote, with commissioners Fred Brummer, Jennifer Thompson, Scott Boyd and John Martinez voting in the majority. Mayor Teresa Jacobs and commissioners Ted Edwards and Tiffany Moore-Russell voted to place the measure on the ballot.
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