Foothills Sentry April 2022

Page 5 Foothills Sentry April 2022 Circulation … 41,750 Published on the last Tuesday of each month and distributed to residences, businesses, libraries and civic centers. 714-532-4406 Fax: 714-532-6755 foothillssentry.com 1107 E. Chapman Ave., #207 Orange, CA 92866 © Foothills Sentry 2022 Publisher/Editor Anita Bennyhoff 1969-2013 Editor Tina Richards editor@foothillssentry.com Sports Editor Cliff Robbins sportseditor@att.net Graphic Designer Aimee Armstrong graphics@foothillssentry.com Advertising Sales Andie Mills advertising@foothillssentry.com 714-926-9299 Office Manager Kathy Eidson officemanager@foothillssentry. com Data dump Dear Editor: I appreciate and value Brian Benzie’s right to have opinions (March letters). However, I can’t condone his attempts to convince people of his point of view by misinterpreting or “cherry- picking” scientific data. He asks for one “real world examplewhere masks have slowed or stopped the spread of COVID.” Since he asked for one, I will give him one. If he asked for a hundred, I could give him a hundred. A study of an outbreak aboard the USS Thomas Jefferson, in which people are living in very close contact, showed that appropriate masking decreased the risk of COVID by 70%. This fact has been proven umpteen times by the scientific community. He also states the CDC admits that cloth masks offer little pro- tection against COVID. While this later statement is true, it is also cherry-picking. The CDC states that surgical masks and N95s significantly reduce the risk of transmission of COVID. Andrew Siskind, M.D. UC Irvine Will Mary's kitchen sink? Dear Editor: Mary’s Kitchen is one good idea away from closing. The City of Orange wants it to move. After months of diligent looking, Mary’s has not found an alternative location. The right lead or idea might save it. Mary’s is prepared to make any place attractive and reconfigure its operation to fit whatever location it can find. The best idea is for you to convince the city council to let Mary’s stay. State law will even- tually require all cities to provide these services. Mary’s may help the city defray those costs. Mary’s Kitchen is on an acre, with a building on one-fourth of it. It is on city property near the police station next to the railroad tracks. It is central, convenient, out of the way, and just about perfect. Mary’s will lose the $200,000 it has invested in refrig- eration, storage and patio covers. Who or what business in Orange, or nearby cities, has industrial or open space or that can be leased or shared for food processing and service, storage for clothes and bedding, offices for counseling and a mail drop. Send your ideas to Dunnandco@cox.net . Mary’s provides essential ser- vices for free: 200 meals a day; two hot and/or a generous sack lunch; phone, mail; shower, clothing, bedding, jackets, coun- seling and coaching. A cordial place to pause, but not congregate.Mary’s foodoperation is always “A” rated. Visitors are appreciative. Everyone must be off the property before dusk. Dave Dunn Orange A fine mess Dear Editor: Recently I was on a Zoom call with Supervisor Don Wagner and his staff to discuss the ille- gal dump (former Sully-Miller site) in East Orange. I followed up with an email to Wagner and await his response. The Orange County Health and Environmental Agency Lo- cal Enforcement Agency (LEA), an agency that Wagner oversees, has enforcement responsibility. I, along with the many neighbors who surround this polluted site, don’t understand why a cleanup order is not being served to the violator, Milan Capital. As of late, the lack of transparency in answering general questions re- garding this dump is alarming. The LEA claims “attorney- client privilege” to avoid provid- ing any information to the public. The public needs to be updated as to how Milan is going to clean up the polluted mess it created. We have patiently waited for over two years for government to use its enforcement authority. Ten years of negligence by Orange elected officials has allowed the 40-foot mountains of unpermitted waste to be dumped on 75 acres. During that time, campaign con- tributions flowed from Milan to some of the current Orange City council members. I know this land will not be re- mediated overnight; it may take years to right this wrong. But regular, accurate updates aren’t too much to ask. The public has a right to know that Milan will be held accountable, and the site will be properly cleaned up. I reached out to Dr. Clayton Chau, director of the Orange County Health Care Agency. His staff said they’re busy with CO- VID. LEA says it is negotiating with Milan. Since when does a government enforcement agency abdicate its power to do the job? Are the taxpayers going to have to foot the bill on this, because politicians look the other way and favor their donors? The compliance order was spelled out in 2020. It should not be up for negotiation. Milan should clean up the mess it cre- ated and should not be above the law. Political contributions or legal filibustering should not ab- solve Milan Capital of its respon- sibility to clean up this polluted site. I await Supervisor Wagner’s response. Kim Plehn Orange Tis not the season Dear Editor: On March 17, at 5 p.m. I con- ducted a biological survey of a remnant wildlife habitat area within the alluvial wash/flood- plain area adjacent to the San- tiago Creek bike trail between the pedestrian creek bridge at the northwest end of Grijalva Park and E. PalmAve. I was dismayed to discover the aftermath of an extensive vegetation removal ef- fort that involved the use of cut- ting equipment, vehicles and a 40-yard dumpster, which took place during peak nesting season for birds and other sensitive wild- life. This activity, conducted by the City of Orange, should not have taken place during nesting sea- son. It is in direct violation of the Federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act, California Fish and Game Code (Sec. 3503) and the City of Orange Municipal Code (Sec. 2-5-227). A qualified biologist should be consulted in advance of any pro- posed vegetation removal activity in order to properly survey the area for nesting birds and other sensitive wildlife. Any further re- moval activities need to be halted immediately. I have notified the state and federal authorities to make sure that this issue is man- aged appropriately. Joel Robinson Orange Thanks to OUSD Dear Editor: As we move to what is, hope- fully, the end of the COVID pan- demic, I want to acknowledge a bright spot in a rather dark time for many families in our commu- nity. In a trying time, full of con- stantly changing rules and moving goalposts, OUSD has managed to serve our students better than many of the districts surrounding us. I’m sure they haven’t won over all of the par- ents at the extreme ends of the COVID spectrum, but as a par- ent of two high school students in OUSD, I would like to recognize their successes and their efforts in navigating COVID. They consis- tently followed the state guide- lines, employed multiple mitiga- tion measures, while aggressively pursuing live instruction. OUSD schools were among the first pub- lic schools to open to in-person learning in Southern California, and they stayed open with mini- mal outbreaks. Those who are quick to vilify the teachers unions should be reminded we could only have opened for our hybrid schedule with the support of our OUSD teachers. They returned to work before vaccines were available and should be acknowledged for the heroic efforts they’ve put forth these past two years. The teach- ers who returned to the classroom and those who quickly expanded our online academy so that par- ents had a choice in deciding what was right for their family, served our students well. Leadership that exemplifies foresight (buying 3,000 internet hotspots before the lockdown), ingenuity (multiple schedules to help us transition in and out of remote learning) and support (hello IT department) is not always found at the district level. We are blessed our lead- ers led, instead of waiting to see how things worked out for other districts. Darshan Bryant Smaaladen Orange Thanks to OUSD community Dear Editor: The last of the four Science Centers on each of our Orange Unified high school campuses is now open, signifying the near completion of Phase 1 of the Measure S School Facilities Bond. Across the district, stu- dents are attending classes and learning in our 71 new 21st cen- tury classrooms. Thanks to the added square footage of these science centers, we are one step closer to ridding our campuses of the “temporary” portables used extensively for decades. We have been witness to the excitement among students, teachers, and community mem- bers about the advancements and investment these modern build- ings represent. For us personally, opening each new building at Or- ange, El Modena, Villa Park and Canyon High Schools represents a journey we began as parents of Orange Unified students, con- cerned about the lack of modern- ization at our children’s schools. Together with other parents, we formed a grassroots community organization to educate the public as to the needs of the schools and the benefits of investing in them. Now that we are on the school board, we have the honor of over- seeing successful implementation of the bond program. As with the completion of any phase in life, we look back on the people who made this moment possible. We are forever grateful to everyone who played a role in bringing modernized education to OUSD. Thank you to the vast major- ity of voters, well above the 55% needed, who shouted a resound- ing “Yes on Measure S,” and to all residents currently paying $16 per $100K assessed value on their homes to fund Measure S bonds, considerably below the $29 authorized by voters. None of this could have happened without you. We believe our students, and our larger community, are worth it, and we are grateful for your support. Thank you to Superintendent Gunn Marie Hansen and OUSD staff for being careful, thought- ful purveyors of taxpayer monies, and for saving nearly $5 million by taking advantage of OUSD’s strong credit rating and timing the sale of the general obligation bond to capitalize on these fac- tors. Thank you to the volunteers who make up the Community Oversight Committee, for ensur- ing OUSD is both transparent and accountable for Measure S funds. Thank you to students who, ev- ery time we come on campus for a visit, inspire us with their ac- complishments and engagement in the learning process. They re- mind us why we became trustees. They deserve the very best this community can give them. The Science Centers are much more than mere buildings. They are symbols of what can be achieved when community mem- bers come together with purpose for a cause bigger than them- selves. Stay tuned for all to come with Phase 2! Andrea Yamasaki, Kris Erickson OUSD School Board trustees