Foothills Sentry February 2021

Page 3 Foothills Sentry February 2021 Expires02/28/2021 www.FCAhome.org ANNUAL MEETING ANNUAL MEETING via ZOOM Monday, March 1, Monday, March 1, 202 202 1 1 7:00pm All are welcome! Learn more at www.FCAhome.org 2013 2020 2015 Orange business owner knighted by Queen of Denmark Orange businessman and Chap- man University graduate Torben Aaskov has been knighted by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark for his meritorious service as that country’s Honorary Consul in California. Aaskov was notified of the honor on Dec. 23 via the Danish Ambassador’s office in Washington, D.C. “What a Christmas gift,” he says. “I am so very humbled and honored. I received a beautiful note from the Embassy and an attached message from the Office of the Protocol at the Danish Foreign Ministry in Copenhagen, informing me of the official awarding of the Order of the Dannebrog by Her Majesty, the Queen of Denmark.” Sir Torben Aaskov arrived in Orange in 1987 to complete his freshman year at Chapman Uni- versity; he planned to complete his studies in Denmark. Instead, he stayed to finish his bachelor’s degree with a double major in in- ternational business and business economics from Chapman, and then earned a master’s in business administration, with a focus on international business. From college to consulate While working on his mas- ter’s program, he was hired by the trade department at the Royal Danish Consulate General in Los Angeles. He also obtained his green card, which allowed him to stay in the U.S. After several jobs in corporate America and a one-year stint back in Denmark, he was offered a job at the Danish Consulate General in Los Ange- les. Aaskov spent six years in the Consulate Trade Department and then launched his own company, Tradeworks Inc., selling imported gourmet food and beverage prod- ucts from Denmark and other European countries to some of the largest supermarket chains in America. In 2012, he was appointed by Her Majesty the Queen of Den- mark to serve as Honorary Dan- ish Consul at the Danish Consul- ate. Today Aaskov splits his time between running his Orange- based Tradeworks and the Danish Consulate office in Los Angeles. The consulate, one of the busiest honorary consulates in the U.S., serves Danes traveling here as well as those living locally. Building relationships As consul, Aaskov acts as a li- aison between the Danish Embas- sy in Washington, D.C., the Dan- ish Foreign Ministry of Affairs in Copenhagen, local governmental agencies and private organiza- tions. His focus is to assist Dan- ish citizens, promote Denmark and maintain the strong bond be- tween the U.S. and Denmark on multiple fronts. Aaskov lived in Old Towne Or- ange for many years, and he and wife Nicola have four children between them. Noel is a senior at Cal Poly SLO; Otis is a senior at Cal State, Fullerton. Ella is a senior at Foothill High School, and Jonas is an eighth grader at Hewes Middle School. Because of the pandemic, the formal awarding of Aaskov’s knighthood is unique this year. “I have been given the option to wait and have the award presented in D.C. at the embassy, once we can safely mingle again,” he says, “and hopefully have an audience with Her Majesty the Queen to say ‘thank you’ in person.” The knightship is valid as of Jan. 1, regardless of the presenta- tion, but, he smiles, “I would love to have the experience in person rather than have a UPS driver leave the medal on my front porch.” TUSD Board elects officers Tustin Unified School District’s newly elected board members Al- lyson Damikolas and Jonathan Stone, and re-elected board mem- ber James Laird were sworn in Dec. 14 at the TUSD Board meet- ing. Laird was originally elected in 2004 and started his fifth term. Damikolas and Stone began their first term. The board elected Lynn Davis as president, Jonathan Abelove as vice-president and James Laird as clerk for 2021. Orange looks to amplify public comments at council meetings By Tina Richards After numerous citizen com- plaints and a direct request from councilwoman Ana Gutierrez, the Orange City Council agreed to explore methods to expand the opportunities for public com- ments at meetings. Since council meetings have been conducted remotely, public comments have been read aloud by staff members. Staff began reading emailed comments at the July council meeting. Prior to that, comments had not been acknowledged, other than to be admitted into the public record. Immediately after the first remote council meeting, citizens complained about their inability to hear public comments, noting that it appeared their voices were stifled and participation restricted. Hearing comments read aloud was considered an improvement, but in order to get on the docket, the city had to have them in hand by 11 a.m. the day of the meeting. There was initial confusion over what email address to send them to, and the morning deadline was perceived to quash spontaneity. As one commenter lamented, “I didn’t know what I was going to say at 11 a.m., I wanted to hear the discussion before making my remarks. But once the meeting started, there was no mechanism for me to speak.” Tone deaf Commenters also complained that the slow, monotone reading of their remarks failed to capture their emphasis on a given topic, and that the three-minute cutoff was often reached before the recitation was finished. “This is not the voice of the first amendment,” commenter Doug Vogel wrote. “It’s not my voice, not my passion.” Gutierrez brought up the pub- lic’s discontent with rote recita- tion of public comments during her first meeting, Dec. 8. The council agreed to have staff look into other options. While stressing that the city’s current approach meets all state standards for public participation, City Manager Rick Otto offered several alternatives at the Jan. 12 meeting. Using phone lines or recorded messages had inherent shortcomings, from busy signals to processing time. Inviting commenters into the electronic meeting itself would be hard to manage, and the online platform used by the city has limitations, he explained. In line on line Ahybrid approach, establishing a secondary GoToMeeting or Zoom session for the public to log into, was deemed the best approach. The secondary meeting would be monitored by staff. When time for a particular comment, staff would connect the caller into the meeting. The council agreed to let staff work out the details of that concept and come back with a plan. Decrying the technical difficulties involved in live comments, Otto noted that only seven cities in Orange County accommodate them. Councilmember Arianna Barrios, who was a Rancho Santiago Community College District board member, reported that the public has been making live comments at those meetings since the virus shut down in- person gatherings. “I say kudos to those seven cities,” Gutierrez observed. “We need to be the eighth.” Torben Aaskov The order of Dannebrog