About The Orange Curtain
Orange County has 3.1 million residents, a $9 billion county budget, 34 cities, and a shrinking number of people covering any of it.
The Orange Curtain covers what happens here and explains it from the beginning.
We report on four things:
County and city. Board of Supervisors votes, city council decisions, transit, zoning, development, ballot measures. The government most people never watch.
Money. Rent, wages, the local job market, business openings and closures, what it costs to live here and why that number keeps moving.
Campus. Five community college and university systems operate in this county and educate a quarter million people. Tuition, board decisions, transfer pathways, and the fees buried in a bill.
Life here. Housing, traffic, food — the things that make this a specific place rather than a set of freeway exits.
We write for anyone in Orange County. We write in a way that assumes you were never taught how a county budget works, because most people were not. That approach happens to serve younger readers well, and it turns out it serves everyone else too.
The name comes from what people have called this county for decades — behind the Orange Curtain. We took it because curtains are things you pull back.
Who runs this
Shervin Shahriary, editor. A pre-law student at Irvine Valley College who started this because Orange County's local government produces thousands of decisions a year that almost nobody writes about in plain language.
We are independent. We are not affiliated with, funded by, or answerable to Irvine Valley College, Saddleback College, the South Orange County Community College District, or any university, party, campaign, or business in Orange County. Nobody reviews our coverage before it publishes.
How this is funded
Right now, out of pocket. The domain registration is the only recurring cost — hosting, the newsletter, and everything else run on free infrastructure, and Shervin Shahriary covers it.
We take no money from any organization we cover. If that changes, this page changes first and we disclose it on every relevant article.
Who writes here
Right now, Shervin Shahriary writes and edits every story. As contributors join, this page — and the masthead — will say so.
How to reach us
Tips, corrections, and complaints go to our contact page. We read everything.