Foothills Sentry April 2021

Foothills Sentry Page 4 April 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 Location, location Dear Editor: I read with interest and great laughter the story about Vince Rossini. His windmill chasing is hys- terical. Despite having the correct house address, this buffoon took photos of the wrong structures at the wrong house. His actions are typical of over zealous council people that have zero knowledge of architecture, construction and real estate. The result was predictable and very funny. With modern technology, it is virtually impossible to get lost anywhere on the planet; however, Rossini got lost in the smallest city in Orange County. If he can’t find the correct ad- dress in VP, imagine how poorly he governs the city. Steve Palmer Orange Sentry ;q Peter Dear Editor: You make my day each month when your paper arrives, giving me great news on the issues I care about. Many thanks. Peter Wetzel Orange Come to terms Dear Editor: I wasn’t surprised when Or- ange County Superior Court Judge Nathan Scott ruled that Mike Alvarez was a termed-out officeholder and ineligible to run for a third term. In August of 2020, many were surprised when Alvarez filed to run again, as he was termed out. What was disap- pointing was that the city attorney and city council looked the other way, refusing to uphold the term limit ordinance. Alvarez stated, “prior to my submitting my papers to run, every effort was made by both my attorney and the city’s at- torney to determine the legal is- sues involved.” This is not a complicated legal issue but very straightforward. Orange voters overwhelmingly voted for term limits in 1996. It’s a shame Or- ange residents had to file legal challenges when the city attorney should have just told Alvarez he could not run, as he was violating the term limit ordinance. Now voters are forced to deal with the mess caused by city hall, with the real possibility that the city council may appoint some- one they favor over anyone who actually ran for that seat. Or they could appoint John Russo, the second-place finisher. Russo was actually in the District 3 race last November – campaigning, spend- ing his time, money and resourc- es – and showing a real interest in the city with some great ideas. The city council should either appoint Russo to the vacancy or hold a special election and re- quire Alvarez and the city attor- ney to pay the cost of the election. Michael Fischer Orange, District 3 Power down Dear Editor: The article [Guest Commen- tary, February 2021] by Jim Mamer was very good, and I agree with what he said about how Edison discriminately turns off power to large areas and is not selective at all about it! Not only did they shut off the canyon, but they shut off large residential ar- eas of East Orange (which causes food to thaw in refrigerators -- and also no hot water). It doesn’t make any sense at all because ALL the power lines in those ar- eas are UNDERGROUND! Does anyone have an explanation for this? What am I missing here? Mike Burris East Orange Ouch Dear Editor: I enjoy reading the monthly newspaper. It helps to keep me up-to-date on the community. I get a lot of information from this newspaper. In regards to the article in “Canyon Beat” under the section “A New Year Gets Under Way,” the author kept referring the sand- bags and coping with heavy rain to the Lunar New Year tradition. I thought that was distasteful and disrespectful to Asian commu- nities that celebrate Lunar New Year. Celebrating the new year is not just a fun event, but also thanking the people who had relationships during the previous year and wel- coming and wishing for a healthy and prosperous year. Cleaning the house before the new year also means preparing to welcome the ancestors’ souls, aka New Year gods. It also means getting rid of any bad things that happened during the year and preparing for good things in the new year. The writer compared this tradition to preparing out- side of the house for the potential flooding, which is not positive and flooding is a bad omen. The ignorance in this article is a signal of racism against the Asian people and Asian commu- nity. As an Asian person living in this community, I experience this often. It is not intentional, but just because the offenders did not do it knowingly, it does not mean that it is acceptable. As you are aware, racist attacks on Asian people have increased with COV- ID-19. Especially with where we stand now, I would like you and your team to be more considerate and intentional about anti-Asian racism. Nagisa Aoki-Kilgore Orange by-mail alternative that might be simpler, given the limited scope of the election. “We don’t have that option,” Sheatz told her, “due to the language in the code.” Jon Dumitru asked if the election had to be run through the county, or if the city could handle it in-house. The answer was "probably not in- house." Murphy noted that if the coun- cil opts to appoint someone, that term would run through 2022, at which time District 3 voters could elect the candidate of their choice. He also encouraged residents of District 3 to submit their applica- tion for a potential appointment by March 26. “We can’t take any action to- night because the item was not agendized,” he stressed. The point of the urgency item, he said, was just to “get the facts out and direct staff to explore the options.” The District 3 vacancy will be further addressed and a decision made at a subsequent meeting when the item is properly placed on the agenda. Two in-person public speakers from District 3 told the council to hold a special election; eight email commenters said the same. No one, to date, has favored an appointment. See "Alvarez" continued from page 1 he assured the audience that he would oppose any zone change, that he would not allow someone to come in and change the charac- ter of the community. This year, he told viewers that “the project should not go for- ward without community buy in” and that the developer was “changing his approach.” The altered approach includes an Environmental Impact Re- port that could take six to nine months. When the draft is com- plete, the community will be able to review it and “challenge it in court, if necessary.” Asked and almost answered Wagner also reported that the county has changed several or- dinances to provide more tools to crack down on sober living homes that are not being good neighbors. He did not define what those tools are, but advised resi- dents that “we can get regulators out there” if bad operators are dis- rupting a neighborhood. The county is also preparing to allow the future veterans’ cem- etery property at the 241/91 in- terchange to be used for RV stor- age. The storage fees will provide funding for the cemetery devel- opment. Questions from the audience reflected the issues of interest to the North Tustin community. The status of the Panorama Heights transfer out of Orange Unified into Tustin Unified: OUSD ap- pealed the transfer to the state, which has a backlog. Fall 2022 is likely the soonest the case will be heard. In the meantime, TUSD is accepting some transfer students. Why is power shut off in areas where there is no imminent fire threat?: Out of an abundance of caution. Even if the fire is not at your doorstep, embers can travel for miles. Out of bounds How about a “view law?” How can we get that started?: That’s a matter of state law. The county has a 35-ft. height restriction, but has no legal authority to do anything. Suggest contacting State Senators Steven Choi or Dave Min. Low flying aircraft approach- ing John Wayne Airport: The county has nothing to say about it. The FAA has complete control over flightpaths, airspace and alti- tude. It’s an issue for your federal representative, in this case Katie Porter. Trash pickup, why do North Tustin residents pay more?: The rates for unincorporated Orange County are competitive. There are seven jurisdictions in the county with lower rates, the rest are higher. But the county is going out for bids on a new waste- hauling contract. The driver will be rates and reliability. The status of the proposed park at Crawford Canyon and New- port: OC Parks has received funding. Ground is expected to be broken this fall. Code blue The 92705 ZIP code: Since it is shared with Santa Ana, North Tustin residents end up paying that city’s higher tax rate. North Tustin needs its own ZIP: There is a tax chart, available from the state, that clearly shows the correct assessment for North Tustin; vendors that overcharge must be informed one by one. The post office is reluctant to change an area’s ZIP code. Again, it’s a federal issue beyond the auspices of the county. “We were rebuffed the last time we tried to get a dedicated ZIP code,” FCA President Rick Nel- son recalled. “Maybe it’s time to try again.” To join FCA, visit fcahome.org . See "FCA" continued from page 1 Plan to backfill Orange wetland on hold for now The Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board denied a request, March 11, from Chandler LLC to backfill a former mine site, now a riparian area, with waste dirt and debris. The property, located near the intersection of Cannon and Santiago Canyon Road, adjacent to Santiago Creek in Orange, was abandoned as a mining operation decades ago. Over time, the canyon returned to nature as a wetland and habitat for native plants and animals. Buried treasure Chandler bought the property with the intent to backfill it to street level. The City of Orange, with little review, was prepared to issue a grading permit to allow the work to begin. Neighbors of the property attempted to convince the city that the property deserved more environmental review before it was buried. Failing that, residents enlisted the Water Quality Control Board to inspect the area before any dumping could take place. The board found that just slightly less than two acres were wetlands, and thus considered to be waters of the state. In denying Chandler’s application for waste discharge, the board noted that the project’s environmental impacts had not been adequately reviewed and that the city’s ministerial issuance of a grading permit was insufficient. “The action,” the board ruled, “would fill waters and wetlands of the state and could potentially impact endangered species and produce other potentially significant environmental impacts.” If not here, there Further, the State of California has a “no net loss” policy for wet- lands. That means the acreage lost to the fill operation would have to be restored or established somewhere else at a 1:1 ratio. Chandler did not provide a miti- gation plan that would adequately compensate for the permanent loss of wetlands and waters on the project site. Chandler has one year to com- plete a satisfactory environmental study and develop a mitigation plan for the lost wetlands.