Foothills Sentry January 2021

Foothills Sentry Page 4 January 2021 JOHNSON MOTORCARS 31 Years of Specializing in the Service and Repair of Mercedes-Benz Gary Johnson 714-997-2567 982 N. Batavia # B13, Orange, CA 92867 gary@johnsonmotorcars.com Good government Dear Editor: I wanted to send my congratu- lations to the new city council members, Arianna Barrios and Ana Gutierrez. It’s exciting to have two Latinas represent- ing Orange; it’s a first, and long overdue. Their voices are key to balanced representation and pro- vide a critical perspective that has been lacking on our council. Kudos to both for addressing, at their first meeting, important is- sues head-on: term limits, poten- tial annexation of county islands, a format to highlight our local businesses, and needed changes to the public comment procedure at council meetings so that resi- dents can be properly heard. It’s refreshing to have indepen- dent thinkers that ask smart ques- tions. I’m still perplexed as to why our city attorney ignored the 1996 term limit ordinance. I’m hoping Barrios and Gutierrez can get the answer as to why Mike Alvarez was allowed to run again. Let’s hope they can also get an- swers to the many questions resi- dents have asked over the years that city hall has simply ignored. Michelle Gregory Orange Dear Editor: What a memorable year 2020 was … a COVID-19 pandemic, major economic disturbances, protests against the police, alle- gations of general election fraud … AND the election of the Hon- orable Mike Alvarez to the first- ever City of Orange District 3 council seat. Alvarez and his City of Orange gang managed to overcome a 1996 initiative restricting coun- cil members to two consecutive terms, a California election law requiring a vote of the people to overturn such initiatives, and a campaign during which the Invis- ible Man was seen more than he was. Alvarez had served two terms, sitting in his at-large council seat – clearly termed out as defined by the most rigorous interpretation of a 1996 initiative that gathered 80% of the vote. Yet, Alvarez, with the approval of City Attorney Gary Sheatz and his three city council buddies, was allowed to run for the newly formed District 3 seat. There was no ballot measure to overturn the initiative, the public was given no notification of the decision, and Alvarez never took the time to explain to District 3 voters that he was a candidate running in viola- tion of city, county and state law. He once belonged to all the city. Now he’s yours, District 3. Best of luck. Peter Jacklin Orange Dear Editor: Grateful for three things: Or- ange volunteers, Orange voters, and the county LEA. Two years ago, I wrote a guest commentary, “The elephant in the room,” (February 2019). I point- ed out the dangers of the former Sully-Miller site and warned that the city would be setting itself up for litigation if it approved devel- opment on this site. I cautioned, “In addition to tox- ins buried in the landfill, hundreds of truckloads of old cement, as- phalt and who-knows-what-else has been stockpiled on the Sully- Miller site. Years ago, used motor oils and diesel fuels were excel- lent for dust control; spray some on the roads used by the mining vehicles, and you have eliminated the dust issue. Imagine how many barrels of oil were dumped and seeped into the ground and into the water table. And how many of the fluids and chemicals used in the maintenance and repair of mining equipment have been dumped on the site.” The Orange City Council ig- nored evidence presented to them and requests made to use its en- forcement authority to stop the illegal dumping -- and instead approved a housing development. Thankfully, Orange volunteers protested the city council ap- provals and gathered the needed signatures to qualify the ballot measure that put the issue to the vote of the people. Orange voters overwhelmingly responded, “No on AA” to overturn the city coun- cil’s misguided decision. Double thanks go to the coun- ty Local Enforcement Agency (LEA) for intervening and finally addressing the unlawful activi- ties the public has witnessed for years. The cease and desist order it issued to halt the stockpiling of construction waste was long overdue. No one knows what is in those mounds. There has been no over- sight since 2013. How could any- one think this is a prudent way to run a city? Paul Andrews Orange House call Dear Editor: There is a beautiful historic home on my street in Old Towne Orange. It is on the National Historic Registry, numbered in Washington, D.C. It was built in 1919 by the Frasier family, as in Rod's Liquor, Don Jose, Ricar- do’s, and Rodrigo’s. The house is almost 2,700 sq. ft., with five bedrooms, two baths. It has beau- tiful double gables in front. It is the only cement-sided craftsman in Orange. The Frasier family owned a cement mine. This home was bought by a large corporation on March 5, 2019, for $1,427,500. It was appraised, at the time, in the $900,000s. It still sits empty. At one time, a group of homeless moved in. This corporation is attempting to rezone this property to “public institution.” The plan is to use it as office space. We have no busi- nesses on our street. We are zoned “low density residential.” The parking on our street is already impacted. I feel this change to our neighborhood is inappropriate. Relating to short-term rentals, which are businesses in residen- tial neighborhoods, Councilman Mike Alverez said, “We’re go- ing to change our city if we don’t get business out of our neigh- borhoods.” Councilman Chip Monaco said, “It’s a commercial business in a residential neigh- borhood. We shouldn’t just start allowing them.” Once the developers finish their project, they collect their money, walk away and leave a changed neighborhood to deal with the problems. Is it legal or ethical for a large corporation to abscond with one of our city treasures for its own use, without the consent of the neighborhood? Shari Carter Orange Last to know Dear Editor: On Nov. 16, the Orange Plan- ning Commission approved the Orange Plaza Inn project by a 5-0 vote. The Shannon Mortuary building at Maple and Orange St. is to become a 12-unit boutique hotel. Approximately two weeks be- fore the PC meeting, I received a notice that the project was to be considered. No meetings during this pandemic allow for citizen attendance. Nowhere in the no- tice was there any mention that if I wanted to comment on the proj- ect I had to do so in writing, and it had to be received no later than 11 a.m. on the 16th. The notice did say, in the fine print at the bottom, that if I chal- lenged any decision on this proj- ect in court I may be limited to raising only those issues I raised at the public hearing, or in written correspondence I delivered prior to the meeting. But how could I? I had no idea what I might care to comment on since I had received no informa- tion about the project until the notice arrived in the mail. I an- ticipated that after listening to the discussions during the PC meet- ing I could better formulate any comments or challenges I cared to provide. I was wrong in that assumption. Since the project was approved, my only recourse was to file an appeal. I communicated with Anna Pehouskek at the city who informed me any appeal would cost me $1,000 and must be filed by Dec. 1. She did not tell me that my other recourse was to convince a council member to carry the appeal forward; if one took that action there would be no need to pay the $1,000. That option was shared with me by an ex-council member, who suggested I reach out to Mayor Mark Murphy and Councilman Mike Alvarez. I did so. Both declined to carry my ap- peal forward. We own three rental proper- ties directly across the street from the project. We were never con- tacted by anyone at the city, or by the developer, who stated during the PC meeting that he met with the residents, did outreach in the neighborhood, and has supportive statements from the nearest resi- dences. The boutique hotel itself might be a nice reuse of the building. The project has 16 parking spaces on site. The PC believes that is sufficient. But the PC also ap- proved an “event space” to ac- commodate up to 225 persons and operate up to midnight daily, with live music, alcoholic bever- age sales and food service, with no additional parking. The PC bought into the premise that all the folks attending events at the Orange Plaza Inn will use the public parking lot in the 100 block of north Orange St. and the new parking garage at Lemon and Maple. I believe the neighbor- hood will be negatively impacted by unauthorized, unpermitted ve- hicles parked by visitors who will refuse to park three blocks away in an unpatrolled parking garage. The PC approval did not include a requirement for handicapped parking for the event center. Additionally, the project ap- proval did not include specific noise levels for the live entertain- ment aspect. It was mentioned that the city would have someone attend the first event and check on the noise levels. There is also the potential of unruly event attend- ees wandering the streets, glass in hand, smoking, and, dare I say, relieving themselves when the on-site restroom facilities are in- capable of handling the demands of 225 attendees. Perhaps these concerns would have surfaced had there been a requirement for a CEQA report prior to approval. But the devel- oper was found “categorically exempt” from that requirement. Had I been aware of the project details prior to the PC’s vote, I would have certainly made my concerns known and hopefully had them addressed. It does not seem unreasonable that the owner of property less than 70 feet away from a project of this significance should be contacted by someone prior to approving it. Tom Grochow Orange Above board Dear Editor: OUSD School Board has begun a new board session. In hope that our upcoming session is more productive than previous ones, I have a message for two board members: John Ortega – we see you. We all see you. Your clear disdain for strong, intelligent women shows through in the condescending way you treat your female col- leagues, and worse, in the abso- lute disrespect you show for our superintendent, Dr. Gunn Marie Hansen. You seem to have some sort of bloated sense of self-importance from holding a position of power. A better man would have stepped down after 19 years to let a new generation with fresh ideas and someone who prioritizes the best interests of students over their own to step up. I suppose the lure of special interest money was just too much to resist. Mark Bucher and Jeff Barke bought your vote by fully funding your last re-election campaign. Once again in 2020 their donations were the major- ity of your fundraising. I guess time will tell what that money has bought them this time. Which brings me to another "bought" trustee, the newly in- stalled Angela Rumsey. Special interest money and a deceitful candidate statement got you into this seat, so excuse me if I’m skeptical about your presence on a public school board. You clear- ly have a passion for education, but your experience is limited to small, homogeneous groups in private school settings. I hope you can transition that passion to serve every student equally, no matter their religious preference, and including those with language barriers, disabili- ties, varying sexual orientations and socioeconomic levels. Let me point out that this is a public school district funded by very limited public funds. When you make decisions that will af- fect students, you need to be mindful to keep your religious and personal beliefs out of that process and be able to step back and look at what will benefit all students, no matter who they are. We will be watching. Michelle Weisenberg Orange Slow roll Dear Editor: I would like the Foothills Sen- try to help start an investigation of what has to be a structural and financial disaster at the Villa Park science center. "Letters" continued on page 5