Foothills Sentry January 2023

NEWS INSIDE East Orange • Old Towne Orange • Orange Park Acres • Villa Park • Silverado/Modjeska Canyons • North Tustin A Monthly Community Newspaper JANUARY 2023 *********ECRWSSEDDM**** Residential Customer Letters To The Editor Page 4-5 Canyon Beat Page 6 Obituary Page 8 Service Directory Pages 11-13 Prof. Directory Page 13 Classifieds Page 13 Community Sports Page 14-15 The Best News In Town Since 1969 ELVES? NO, ELKS! Orange Lodge 1475, it seems, is everywhere, with helping hands, hearts and minds. See Stories, page 3, 5, 10 and 15 FOLLOW US at Foothills Sentry THAT'S A WRAP Orange council conducts business as usual at farewell meeting before taking its final adjournment. See Outgoing, page 5 CANINE CROSSING Citified coyotes have learned to live with humans; now we have to learn to live with them. See Urban, page 11 EXTRA SEASONING Holiday happenings gave rise to spirits bright, lights at night and Santa sights. See Twas, page 10 See "Orange Council" continued on page 2 Mayor Dan Slater, Orange council members sworn in Major Dan Slater By Tina Richards Orange Mayor elect Dan Slat- er, along with four city council members, was sworn into office in front of a standing room only crowd in City Hall, Dec 15. Defeating incumbent Mayor Mark Murphy by a slim 434 votes, Slater is the first candidate in memory to prevail over a sit- ting mayor in Orange. He was administered the oath of office by City Clerk Pamela Coleman. He was followed by returning council members Ari- anna Barrios, District 1, sworn in by former mayor Carolyn Cavecche; and District 3’s Kathy Tavoularis, taking the oath from former County Supervisor, U.S. Ambassador and Peace Corps Di- rector Gaddi Vasquez. Denis Bilodeau, representing District 4, was sworn in by Vin- cent Sarmiento, himself newly elected to the County Board of Supervisors. Bilodeau is return- ing to the council after eight years, having served as an Orange councilmember from 2006-2014. Newcomer John Gyllenhammer, representing District 6, took the oath from City Clerk Coleman. Slater hit the ground running, telling the audience he had al- ready met with each of his coun- cil colleagues (“They all have good ideas – stay tuned”), Chap- man President Danielle Strupa (“He will support the city’s ef- forts to control unneighborly stu- dents”) and the Village at Orange developers (“They may be ready to listen to residents of Orange”). Newly sworn in OUSD board elects officers, question consent calendar items By Tina Richards Three returning trustees and one newly elected were sworn in at the Orange Unified School Dis- trict board meeting, Dec. 14. Kris Erickson, Andrea Yama- saki and Rick Ledesma were re- elected; Madison Miner unseated long-standing board member Kathy Moffatt in a tight race that was decided by just over 200 votes. The day before the swearing in ceremony, Moffat was honored for her 22 years of service at a re- ception that had the OUSD board room filled to overflowing with well-wishers representing the school district, city governments and the community. The first order of business for the newly seated board was electing officers for 2023. Rick Ledesma was named president, John Ortega, vice president, both in a 4 - 3 vote. Angie Rumsey was elected clerk by unanimous consent. The second order of business was approving the meeting cal- New and returning OUSD board members were sworn in by oath- givers of their choosing. From left, Andrea Yamasaki, sworn in by Superintendent Gunn Marie Hansen; Kris Erickson, administered the oath by retired Judge Lynne Riddle; OC Sheriff Michael Ledesma Jr. swore in his uncle Rick Ledesma; Madison Miner, who took the oath from Villa Park councilwoman Crystal Miles. endar for the year. In addition to scheduled monthly meetings, the calendar customarily includes four “placeholder” dates in case additional meetings are needed. These placeholder meetings are rarely called, but allow board members to schedule around them in advance. Make every meeting count John Ortega objected to three of the four placeholder meeting dates, noting that they weren’t necessary, and if an emergency meeting is needed during the year, the board could schedule one at that time. Andrea Yamasaki explained that the placeholder dates were typically approved in advance along with the scheduled meet- ing dates to avoid surprises later in the year. “It’s important to re- serve dates,” she said, “because, ultimately, we have things we Three newly elected Silverado-Modjeska Recreation and Parks board members were sworn in, Nov. 25, by past board President Isabell Ker- ins; from left, Brittney Kuhn, Laurie Martz and Ted Wright. VP councilwoman calls colleagues "divisive" By Andie Mills After days of watching OC Registrar of Voters' 5 p.m. neck- and-neck election returns, with candidates Jordan Wu and Donna Buxton jockeying for the third available council seat, Wu won the seat by a margin of only six votes. Wu, incumbent Crystal Miles, and newly elected council- woman Nicol Jones were sworn in on Dec. 6. (The final tally: Miles, 1,801 votes; Jones, 1,458; Wu, 1350; Buxton, 1344; and Marybeth Felcyn, 1,057.) The first meeting of the new council, Dec. 13, should have been a calm assembly after the rigors of campaigning and the nail-biting wait for results. Wrong. The first order of busi- ness was the reorganization of the council, with a vote for the office of mayor, then mayor pro tem. Concerned residents began lob- bying for their preference, Team Robbie Pitts or Team Vince Ros- sini. Outgoing mayor Chad Zim- merman, who had declined to run for a second term, and had shared the dais with both Pitts and Ros- sini, offered his insight: Pitts had “earned” the mayoral position because of his long-term and con- tinual involvement in city organi- zations and activities; the lack of a normal mayoral year, when he served during the COVID lock- down; and, he noted, Pitts had voluntarily declined his nomina- tion in favor of Rossini in 2019, despite overwhelming support from residents. Buxton and former councilman Wayne Silzel recommended the council follow the “tradition” of having the mayor pro tem (Vince Rossini) become mayor the fol- lowing year. Crystal Miles em- braced that notion, citing “tradi- tion” as the reason Rossini should take the mayor’s seat. She nomi- nated him. Jordan Wu nominated Robbie Pitts. Miles objected to the Pitts nomination, suggesting that her new colleagues, who appeared to favor him, were being divisive and were “ignorant” of Villa Park council traditions. She bolstered her claim by re- minding them that she, the lone incumbent running in the elec- tion, had garnered the most votes. She repeatedly expressed her opinion that her two peers were beginning their term by “straying from tradition” and being divi- sive. She noted that Wu and Jones had campaigned with the promise to maintain Villa Park as it is. Wu replied that the city can always be improved; further, he said, when talking with residents, See "OUSD" continued on page 2 See "VP Council" continued on page 3 ONE DUMP OR TWO? Property owner wants to add another dump site to the Orange landscape, just 1/2 mile from the Sully-Miller mounds. See Guest Commentary, page 3 Photos by Tony Richards