Foothills Sentry - January 2024

Page 5 Foothills Sentry January 2024 Circulation … 40,000 Published on the last Tuesday of each month and distributed to residences, businesses, libraries and civic centers. Printing by Advantage, Inc. 714-532-4406 Fax: 714-532-6755 foothillssentry.com 1107 E. Chapman Ave., #207 Orange, CA 92866 © Foothills Sentry 2024 Publisher/Editor Anita Bennyhoff 1969-2013 Editor Tina Richards editor@foothillssentry.com Sports Editor Cliff Robbins sportseditor@att.net Graphic Designer Jef Maddock graphics@foothillssentry.com Advertising Sales Andie Mills advertising@foothillssentry.com 714-926-9299 Office Manager Kathy Eidson officemanager@foothillssentry. com By Scott Resnick, Darshan Smaaladen and Michelle Weisenberg Recalls are radical, but when the circumstances are so extreme and the repercussions long-last- ing, citizens must exercise their democratic rights to remove the elected officials damaging their community. OUSD constituents are exercis- ing their options right now, seek- ing to recall two board members whose alliance and agenda is not with OUSD students, but with a powerful anti-public-school or- ganization that bought and paid for them. Outside interests put their money behind trustees Rick Ledesma, Madison Miner, Angie Rumsey and John Ortega. Orte- ga and Rumsey will face voters in the November 2024 election. Ledesma and Miner, with longer terms ahead of them, will answer to voters, March 5. After Ledesma and Miner took their seats following the election of 2022, the new board majority, immediately fired the superinten- dent without cause and without a long-term plan in place. They have set actual district busi- ness on the backburner at their monthly meetings, instead choos- ing to focus on culture wars, li- brary books, student identity and passing restrictive policies that don’t do anything to improve the education of our students. They spend meeting hours listening to out-of-area activists and “run out of time,” when the only remain- ing crowd is actual OUSD par- ents. This board majority has shown no signs of slowing its slash-and- burn operation, and are moving up timelines to beat the March 5 recall elections. Pushing through an Olympic-sized aquatics cen- ter, for example, that could cost anywhere from $16-$28 million. Those millions will use up most of the facilities reserves budget intended for the entire district, funds intended to modernize our elementary schools and pay for earthquake and fire safety up- grades they desperately need. Even worse, the board major- ity is now seeking to displace the students of Esplanade Elemen- tary School to give its facility to Orange County Classical Acad- emy, a county charter that serves students from throughout Orange County. Those classrooms are meant for actual OUSD students. This move will displace some of the most vulnerable low-income students in OUSD. Esplanade is home to one of only four unique elementary Special Ed. programs in the district. Despite the outcries from the Esplanade community, the board is moving ahead to ac- cept this proposal. Why? Trustee Madison Miner’s children attend OCCA, and the school's founders bankrolled the campaigns of the current board majority. The decisions this board has made have resulted in multiple key losses at the district office and one quarter of school prin- cipals. This divisive politically charged environment has trickled down to teachers and staff, many of whom no longer feel comfort- able in OUSD. It's no wonder both teachers and parents in Or- ange Unified overwhelmingly support the recall. Historically, the teachers of OUSD have chosen the well-be- ing of the district and its students repeatedly, taking pay cuts dur- ing the 2008 recession, working through furlough days, and re- turning early during COVID. They support the recall because it is in the best interest of the stu- dents and teachers of Orange Unified. There is no other agenda. Parents support the recall because it is in the best interest of students and teachers. As parents, teach- ers and community members, it is our duty to stop the dismantling of our district before it’s too late. It’s time to take our school dis- trict back and return it to a posi- tive trajectory. On March 5, we must recall Rick Ledesma and Madison Miner. The authors are members of the Recall Committee. Lobbyists must now register in Orange Threats to OUSD are real; voters must intercede The Orange City Council ap- proved an ordinance, Nov. 28, that requires lobbyists to register with the city clerk and disclose their clients, the nature of their efforts, compensation, donations and fundraising efforts. The ordinance is intended to provide more transparency re- garding decisions made by the city and promote community con- fidence in elected and appointed officials. It comes in response to the influence peddling and cor- ruption scandal that brought FBI attention to the City of Anaheim. Orange’s current council, aware that the city has not been immune to aggressive lobbying, asked staff to develop the ordinance to keep the activities of lobbyists in the open. A first draft was presented to the council on Oct. 10. It offered definitions of a lobbyist, lobby- ing activities, officeholders, client and compensation; detailed reg- istration and reporting require- ments; and enforcement. Dissat- isfied with some of the details in that version, the council appoint- ed an ad hoc committee (Jon Du- mitru, Kathy Tavoularis, Arianna Barrios) to rework it. The revisions added “per proj- ect” to the reporting require- ments, deleted the need for quar- terly reports, modified several time constraints, and added that no city representative may reg- ister as a lobbyist for one year subsequent to leaving an elected or appointed office. Violations of the code will be considered in- fractions (not misdemeanors, as originally stated), and violators will be prohibited from lobbying within the city for one year. The revised version also deleted the provision for citizens to bring civil actions to enforce the ordi- nance. The council voted to approve the ordinance unanimously, with Denis Bilodeau absent. For now, the ordinance ap- plies only to independent lobby- ists hired by a firm to advance its projects or concerns. It does not include people on the payroll of the company they represent, e.g., in-house agents for Southern Cal- ifornia Edison, the Gas Company or TNT Fireworks do not have to register. “That,” says long time county government watchdog Shirley Grindle, “may be a mis- take. The day will come when in-house lobbyists are included.” OPA annual meeting slated The Orange Park Associa- tion annual General Membership meeting will be held Saturday, Jan. 27 at Salem Lutheran Church, 6500 Santiago Canyon Road. Doors open at 8 a.m. for cof- fee and donuts. All are welcome! It’s a good time to pay your 2024 membership dues, meet OPA Board Members, dignitaries and your neighbors. Community Part- ners will have tables set up to pro- vide information and answer your questions. OPA merchandise will be available to purchase. The meeting begins at 9 a.m. The agenda includes the State of December Young Women of the Month announced The Tustin Area Woman’s Club named Kate Jensen from Foothill High and Layla Rocha of Tustin High as its Young Women of the Month for December. Foothill’s Kate Jensen is in the International Baccalaureate pro- gram. She is the treasurer of the Associated Student Body, and belongs to the California Schol- arship Federation and National Charity League. She has been a varsity doubles tennis player all four years, and recently won the Crestview League Doubles MVP. She is currently the captain of the varsity girls tennis team. Jensen is an AP Scholar award winner, Scholar-Athlete and President’s Volunteer Service Award winner. She plans to major in finance and become an investment banker one day. Layla Rocha, from Tustin High, says her life goals are to become the best version of her- self possible and to achieve fi- nancial freedom for herself and her family. She hopes to attend USC and major in finance, plan- ning to become a business analyst and actuary. In three words, she would describe herself as “com- mitted, unbound and limitless.” TAWC also named Amisha Tilak from Beckman High and Caitlyn Yahn of Legacy High as December honorees. Goodwill opens on Tustin Street Eager shoppers were lined up as early as 6 a.m., waiting for the grand opening of the new Good- will Industries store in Orange. The former Big Lots! on Taft and Tustin was given a $1 mil- lion facelift, and opened with a ribbon-cutting Dec. 8. Goodwill of OC President and CEO Ni- Orange Councilwoman Kathy Tavoularis, fourth from left, was on hand to welcome the store into her district, as was Mayor Dan Slater, behind Tavoularis, and Orange Chamber of Commerce members, with Goodwill OC CEO Nicole Suydam, center right. Dear Editor: As a parent of two children in OUSD schools, I am deeply con- cerned about the fiscal irrespon- sibility of the board. We have schools in disrepair, an elementa- ry school modernization plan that needs funding, and yet this board “rented” space to Explore Acad- emy and spent $100k prepping it, which we did not have to do and would have been more than the rent for the first year. But all that money was flushed down the toilet because Explore Academy never opened. Now it appears the board has entered into negotia- tions with yet another charter for Orange Unified property. I hope "Letters" continued from page 4 the OUSD board will be more successful in negotiating some- thing that benefits taxpayers. It’s ironic that the same meet- ing they began the process to sell properties, that the board began lease negotiations for our most valuable asset, Peralta, which is unused and the most sellable. Perhaps this is a blessing, I do not trust this board to act in the best interests of OUSD taxpayers. Baiju Mehta Anaheim cole Suydam indicated that the mission of Goodwill, which is to provide jobs and serve the com- munity, will continue to be car- ried out with the opening of this store, and ultimately, doubling the footprint in Orange County, with another store set to open in Fountain Valley. OPA, community updates and is- sues effecting OPA. The Orange Park Association maintains a 25- mile trail system funded through membership dues and donations. Learn how you can volunteer. The Board of Directors elec- tion is at 10 a.m. Each year the terms of three directors expire. To be eligible to run, a candi- date must be a property owner; a member of the Association for one year; and want to participate in local affairs. For further infor- mation, call the OPA Hotline at (714) 900-2OPA (672) or email info@orangeparkacres.org . Jane Austen explored at WCO Chapman University Professor Lynda Hall will discuss the life and writings of Jane Austen at the Woman’s Club of Orange, Thurs- day, Jan. 18. The presentation will be held at the clubhouse, 121 S. Center Street, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. All are welcome to attend. A $5 charge will be collected at the door. Friends of the Orange Pub- lic Library will have preowned Jane Austen books for sale at the event. Kate Jensen Layla Rocha Guest Commentary Happy New Year!