Foothills Sentry February 2020

Foothills Sentry Page 10 February 2020 LETTERS to the EDITOR DearEditor Tis the season Dear Editor: I love the Sentry , but was dis- appointed/surprised not to see in the January edition any article (pros/cons) on the Bond Measure L that Rancho Santiago Commu- nity College District is placing on the ballot in March. We’ve all re- ceived the recent flyers asking for more money from us. Many, like myself, are tired of paying more bond measures and having them added to our property tax bills. According to my current property tax bill, I’m already paying for an RSCCD bond measure! When will it stop, when is enough, enough? It will never stop. School districts always want more. I think it’s funny (but not too funny) they always make it sound like it’s such a small amount of money per person. Any dollar amount is a big deal for a retired person like me, living on an an- nual small fixed income. As you’re aware, now all the bond needs to pass is 55 percent approval of local voters. I’m vot- ing “no.” I hope and pray the February edition of the Sentry covers Bond Measure L. This is a big deal. Linda Perry East Orange Dear Editor: This is to commend U.S. Rep. Lou Correa, California’s 46th Congressional District, for be- coming the 93rd co-sponsor of H.Con.Res.52 – a resolution de- claring “a climate emergency which demands a massive-scale mobilization to halt, reverse, and address its consequences and causes.” As a military veteran, I do ap- preciate Correa’s actions on be- half of veterans, but veterans and all other issues do not matter if we do not have a habitable planet. Combating the ever-increasing global temperatures and green- house gas emissions is our num- ber one enemy, and should be his number one issue. I also commend the climate activists who are out in front of the Orange City Hall every Fri- day morning fighting for our lives by urging the City Council to declare a climate emergency and mobilize all available resources, similar to a military operation, to stop greenhouse gas emissions. Second only to a nuclear war, the climate crisis is the greatest threat to our existence. Without presidential leader- ship, it is up to our local govern- ments and members of Congress to take action now if we are to have a sustainable planet. We need Correa, as well as Reps. Cisneros, Porter and Rouda, to join Reps. Lowenthal, Levin and Sanchez on the Green New Deal to mobilize this country, as during World War II. We also need the Orange City Council to declare a climate emergency, adopt climate action and mobilization plans, and pursue community choice (clean, renewable) energy. Michael Fischetti Orange Dear Editor: The Orange County Depart- ment of Education (OCDE) plays an important role in our local public education system. School districts rely on OCDE for such resources as legal services, tech- nical support and teacher training programs, as well as assistance in developing budgets and Local Control and Accountability Plans. OCDE also provides education programs to the neediest children, including those who are blind, in- carcerated or in foster care. OCDE has an elected super- intendent, Dr. Al Mijares, and a board of trustees elected from five districts in Orange County. Three of those trustee seats are up for election in the March 3 primary, including the one cur- rently held by Ken Williams, who represents our area. Williams has served on the board since 1996, and it’s high time to replace him. Williams has a radical, regres- sive personal agenda that he has attempted time and again to foist on county schools. He has wasted OCDE resources in attempts to undermine state education stan- dards and the Healthy Youth Act, which are set in law. Last year, Williams and two other board members tried to cut $172,442 out of the OCDE annu- al budget of $257 million, or less than 0.07 percent. He has sued both Dr. Mijares and the state superintendent of schools in an attempt to grab control of OCDE finances so that he and his allies can determine what programs are funded. This has led to more than $1 million in legal expenses, paid by taxpayers, though Williams has said he wants to cut the fat from the budget. Happily, we have an alterna- tive candidate for the Area 3 seat: Andy Thorburn. Andy is a for- mer classroom teacher, workers’ rights advocate and successful businessman. He believes that any organization gets the best re- sults if it treats people fairly, with dignity, and holds itself to a stan- dard of excellence. Join me in supporting Andy Thorburn for Orange County Board of Education. Sharon O’Hara Orange Dear Editor: What’s the bird in hand that’s worth two in the bush? It’s Propo- sition 13, School and College Fa- cilities Bond (March 2020). Prop. 13 is a statewide mea- sure on your March 3 ballot that could well bring a billion or more of our own state tax dollars back to Orange County’s schools and colleges to help replace or repair aging facilities. For example, Orange Unified School District could receive more than $100 million from the state to add to funds already raised to support our schools. Better still, the money would come in without adding a penny to our property taxes. But that money will not find its way back home unless we all step up and vote “yes” on Prop. 13. It’s important to understand this “Prop. 13” has nothing to do with the property tax measure passed in 1978. This 2020 ballot proposition just happens to have the number 13 by luck of the draw. The two measures are not the least bit alike and are certainly not related. Here’s how Prop. 13 (2020) works. All Orange County school dis- tricts have passed facilities im- provement bonds in recent years. OUSD’s Meaure S ($288 mil- lion) and Anaheim Elementary’s J ($318 million) were both ap- proved in 2016. Tustin Unified’s Measure N, seeking $215 mill- lion, will appear on the March ballot. When Prop. 13 passes, those districts and others in Califor- nia will have an opportunity to share $15 billion in state match- ing grants based on the cost and type of facilities improvements completed. So, yes, $100 million. That’s what Orange Unified could be in line for. Is that the kind of opportunity we can afford to pass up? The needs in Orange, Tustin and Anaheim are not unique. Studies show more than 30 per- cent of California’s schools are over 50 years old, and 10 per- cent more are older than 70. No wonder the bill that placed Prop. 13 on the ballot passed with a re- markable 96 percent of our state’s legislators voting “yes.” No or- ganization in the state opposed the bill, while nearly 100 sup- ported it. Here’s how Prop. 13 will allo- cate the $15 billion: --K-12 public schools, $9 bil- lion, ($2.8 billion for new con- struction; $5.2 billion for mod- ernization) --$500 million for Career Tech- nical Education facilities 
 --$500 million for charter school facilities, and 
 -- $ 2 billion each to community colleges, California State Univer- sity and University of California.
 As a trustee of the Orange Uni- fied School District, I am grateful to voters who, in 2016, passed Measure S so overwhelmingly. Parents and community members are eager to extend that invest- ment with matching state funds like so many districts have done for years before us. 
Our students are bright, hopeful, capable, and precious. Let’s help them carry on California’s legacy as a world leader by providing the best facil- ities and education we’re capable of and willing to support. 
Vote “yes” on Proposition 13 on March 3. Kathy Moffat OUSD Trustee Dear Editor: I recently read “2019 in review: Top stories of the year in Costa Mesa,” Daily Pilot, Dec. 25, and “Families Forward opens afford- able housing complex in Costa Mesa,” Daily Pilot, Dec. 27, which summarized Costa Mesa’s actions to address homelessness and affordable housing. These actions illustrate the power of the good leadership provided by Costa Mesa Mayor Katrina Foley, who is now a candidate for State Senate District 37. Foley has provided a positive attitude toward establishing a homeless shelter and initiating ef- forts for affordable housing, both of which are key priorities in her run for senate. Katrina Foley’s priority as Cos- ta Mesa’s first directly-elected mayor was to change the city’s approach to resolving homeless- ness. Her “must do” attitude re- sulted in helping the homeless with shelter and many medical services, job training, and con- nections to permanent housing. Shelter discussions started when Costa Mesa attempted to enforce its public safety anti- encampment ordinance, and was sued. The court required the city to provide 62 shelter beds, 50 more than the approved 12 crisis stabilization beds at College Hos- pital for mental health and medi- cal treatment. The previous council majority spent tens of thousands of dollars fighting the lawsuit. However, under Foley’s leadership, the city immediately settled the case and created solutions. The city’s short-term plan re- quired contracting with a site, making significant upgrades to the premises, and securing op- erational help from city outreach and Mercy House staff. On April 5, 2019, the 50-bed temporary bridge shelter at Lighthouse Church of the Nazarene on Ana- heim Avenue opened. The shelter has been success- ful. In 2019, shelter was provided to 159 people, and housing was found for 40. The point-in-time count was 187 (193 - 6 sheltered). The current long-term plan in- volves a permanent shelter in the city’s northeast portion near John Wayne Airport. Foley has also supported the opening of Family Forward’s eight-unit affordable housing complex in Costa Mesa. This en- deavor involved a partnership of five different organizations, and obtaining donations for approxi- mately 80 percent of the renova- tion materials. It is clear to me that Mayor Ka- trina Foley is the best candidate for Senate District 37, and her ef- forts on homelessness and afford- able housing should be continued at the state level. Florice Hoffman Orange Charter challenge Dear Editor: I am a resident of Orange and a reader of the Sentry . I am a graduate of OUSD schools and a proud taxpayer. A recent article about the new Orange County Classical Acad- emy (OCCA), in my opinion, fell short of any reasonable standards of journalistic integrity. The ar- ticle’s headline “OUSD board approves charter school despite inherent flaws and negative pub- lic opinion” would be laughably biased even if no article accom- panied it. Of particular concern was the characterization of the night’s public speakers: “Few of the 60 public speakers addressed OC- CA’s merits specifically, using their three minutes at the micro- phone to praise charter schools in general.” As someone who attended that meeting and spoke in favor of the school, I used my three minutes to discuss my expe- riences as an OUSD student and the ways that I think that OCCA would have been able to foster a love for classical learning had it existed when I was a student. Many of my fellow speakers used their time to share similar views, and many were residents of Or- ange. The Sentry did not capture this spirit. The article’s character- ization of the charter’s advocates as opportunistic out-of-towners was simply untrue. Now that its one-sided account of the story has been relayed to its readership, however, I hope that the Sentry will continue its reporting of this school by go- ing straight to the source, instead of activists and union members. OCCA is set to become a part of this community. Brian Brooks Orange Ed note: The Sentry received a dozen letters written at the behest of a post by OCCA. Most came from out of the area, including one from Austin, Texas. Brooks was the only local writer, and the only one who actually attended the meeting in question; hence, we are happy to publish his views. The Sentry attended the meeting, observed the proceedings and re- ported what transpired. Brooks was one of two identified OUSD residents who spoke in favor of the charter. Dear Editor: As a concerned, active member of the Anaheim Hills commu- nity and a former OUSD parent, I make it a point to periodically attend school board meetings whenever I get the chance. I was in attendance at the Dec. 14 pub- lic meeting for a few hours, and was later disappointed to learn that the OUSD Board ultimately accepted the petition from OC Classical Academy (OCCA). Perhaps I shouldn’t be shocked that the OUSD board major- ity rejected its own staff recom- mendation, its very own parents’ objections, its own teachers’ arguments and even their own students’ pleas in favor of ideo- logues, politicians and outsiders. John Ortega’s and Brenda Leb- sack’s campaigns were primarily funded by the very same outsid- ers and ideologues. The fact that they would approve this charter school -- when it was so incred- ibly flawed -- demonstrates they aren’t working for the good of OUSD, but rather for their own contributors. Dhonni Perfetti Anaheim Hills Dear Editor: I attended the OUSD board meeting Dec.19, as I often do. I am a parent of two young stu- dents, and what goes on in the district is important to me. I was astonished by what I experienced, and think it is important to con- vey to my fellow community members. I came straight from work, ar- riving early at 5:45 p.m. There were four “officials” wearing Or- ange County Classical Academy (OCCA) shirts huddled around boxes of pizza just outside the boardroom door. Inside the boardroom, every single empty seat had an OCCA sign placed on it. This left no seating for OUSD students, parents or community members, even if they arrived as early as I did. They were ef- fectively denied seating by the OCCA organizers. OUSD administrators con- firmed to me that seating was open to the public and could not be “reserved” by anyone. How- ever, the OCCA representatives did not agree and left the hall to consult around their pizza boxes. While they were gone, I began to seat a dozen or so high school students and their parents. In re- sponse, I was verbally accosted by two men in OCCA polo shirts. They stated that they have been to numerous board meetings across the region, knew the rules, and would reserve the seats as they pleased. I spoke with OCCA officials and their guests and learned they were mostly from throughout the Southern California area, Arizona and even Texas. One supporter