Foothills Sentry April 2022

NEWS INSIDE East Orange • Old Towne Orange • Orange Park Acres • Villa Park • Silverado/Modjeska Canyons • North Tustin A Monthly Community Newspaper April 2022 *********ECRWSSEDDM**** Residential Customer Canyon Beat Page 4 Letters To The Editor Page 5 Real Estate Page 1 0 Obituaries Page 11 Service Directory Pages 11-13 Prof. Directory Page 13 Classifieds Page 13 Sports Pages 14-15 The Best News In Town Since 1969 READ IT AND REAP Resident takes on county waste rates by reading beyond the bluster. See Citizen, page 3 FOLLOW US at Foothills Sentry TRUE TO TRADITION High school JROTC members train, tromp, traverse, transcend, transform and travel. See Orange High, page 4 NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH Crime rates in Orange portray more sticky fingers than fisticuffs. See Orange Police, page 2 SWEET DREAMS Middle school students create themed cakes that look too good to eat. See El Rancho, page 9 THE MORTAR BEHIND THE MOTOR Local “car guy” has a big birthday and writes a book about his role in the making of the Shelby Mustang. See North Tustin, page 8 See "Orange council" continued on page 2 Orange City Council selects voting district map By Tina Richards The Orange City Council selected Map 128 from a field of four finalists, at a public hearing March 22, that will define the city’s voting districts for the next 10 years. The maps under consideration were whittled down from 28 submitted by citizens and the consultant. They included the map the council had approved in February. That map, 121, violated the Fair Map Act by cutting well-defined neighborhoods and an apartment complex in half. Many residents opposed Map 121 because it separated the Village Mall on Tustin Street from neighborhoods that will be affected by its coming redevelopment. It disenfranchised Latino voters and also put the entirety of East Orange into a single mega district that, residents said, disregarded communities of interest and the natural boundary of Santiago Creek. Demographer Justin Levitt, the city’s consultant, assured the council that all four finalist maps were balanced by population and were contiguous, as required by the Fair Map Act. He also noted that in considering its final selection, the council needed to consider communities of interest, natural boundaries, compactness and avoid partisanship. A moving target Map 128 was drawn by Levitt in response to problems identified in Map 121 that he had pointed out in the February meeting. Those problems came up again in the council’s March 8 meeting when the council was expected to finalize its approval of that map. Instead the council asked that the demographer “tweak” Map 121 to make it compliant. While Map 128 was the favorite of the council majority, Arianna Barrios and Ana Gutierrez made a final pitch for Map 119, which had gathered the most community support as reflected in emails and public comments. It was also cited as the best choice by Attorney Kevin Shenkman, who represented the city’s Latino citizens in the lawsuit that Orange settled by adopting by-district voting. In two recent letters to the Orange city attorney, Shenkman reiterated the case for Map 119. While accepting that Map 128 “was not perfect,” the coun- cil majority, Jon Dumitru, Chip Monaco, Kathy Tavoularis, Kim Nichols and Mayor Mark Mur- phy, agreed that it was the best of the lot. All retreated from their previous support of Map 121. Tavoularis said she could live with Map 119, but had to support 128 because it put the Village Mall in District 3, where neighbors wanted it to be. Conscious of head counts Monaco pointed out that Map 128 “preserved the percentages of Latino voters,” in District 5, and put the Cypress Street Barrio in District 1. He insisted that the sprawling East Orange District 6 was a community of interest and that it had to be shifted to accom- modate the population growth of Districts 1 and 2. “Mabury Ranch (formerly District 4) and OPA (District 6) need one voice,” he said. Dumitru agreed with Monaco’s assessment, noting that District 6 was geographically large but there are less people there than in other parts of the city. He said he did not like Map 119 because it put residents close to the 55 Freeway in District 6 and they don't associate themselves with East Orange. “We spent a lot of time on District 5,” Nichols said. The Latino voice is “important to us as a collective body.” She also acknowledged that the Cypress Barrio and Village Mall mattered Orange City Councilwoman Ana Gutierrez hosted California State Senator Dave Min on a walking tour of the historic El Modena community, March 19. The tour was focused on the history, resources and needs of the area. The group also made a quick stop at the Sully-Miller property, where Min was given an overview of the sites along Santiago Creek that are being threatened, and how they are connected. Seen here in front of the historical dedication marker at El Modena Park are, in back, David Hillman; front, from left, Bonnie Robinson, Ana Gutierrez, Senator Dave Min, Sammy Rodriguez and Viviano Cortez. El Modena High School graduate (’07) Freddie Freeman has signed a contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The first baseman will earn $62 million over the next six years. Freeman comes to the Dodgers from the Atlanta Braves, who drafted him in 2007. He made his major league debut with the Braves in 2010 and is a five-time MLB All Star. Freeman was an ElMo standout, pitching, playing third base and batting .417 his senior year. Photo by James Black The Orange City Council approved the voting district map that will define the city for the next 10 years.