Foothills Sentry April 2024

Page 3 Foothills Sentry APRIL 2024 Spring Fling at Enderle Center Fun, Fashion, &Live Music! Seventeenth & Yorba 55 fwy North or South, Exit 17th St. East, Tustin 714-731-2911 Featuring Spring has arrived at Enderle Center... By special invitation s ee the new spring arrivals and enjoy shopping and dining! Celebrating 43 Years! April 27 3-6PM Golden West Pops Residents hear from elected officials at FCA annual meeting By Tina Richards The Foothill Communities As- sociation (FCA) annual meeting, March 4, was highlighted by talks by OC District Attorney Todd Spitzer and Chair and Third Dis- trict Supervisor Don Wagner. A crowd of over 100 people came early to visit the tables of local agencies and community groups set up in the Hewes Mid- dle School auditorium. Residents received updates from OC Parks, Save the Racquet Club, the Sher- iff’s Department, the DA’s Office and Don Wagner’s staff. Spitzer told the North Tustin au- dience that the annual FCA gath- ering is his “favorite meeting” and he has missed attending it over the last few years. Before becoming district attorney, Spitzer was the county supervisor representing North Tustin, as Wagner is today. Spitzer attended every FCAmeet- ing, but that changed with his new job. “I finally had to ask Rick Nelson (FCA president) when he was going to invite me back,” he grinned. Orange County prosecutes Spitzer was apparently “at home” with old friends and fa- miliar faces, but, he assured FCA members, he enjoys being dis- trict attorney. “Orange County is the safest county in California,” he said, “and it’s my job to keep it that way. We still prosecute crime here.” Sheriff AJ Patella, captain of the department’s North Bureau, which includes North Tustin, of- fered a few statistics to bolster Spitzer’s comments. “Burglaries are down by half,” he said, “due to our deputies and the DA’s of- fice. They’ve apprehended gang members from L.A. and South America, who organized teams to case houses, learn the home- owners’ habits and calculate the best time to break in. The jail is full of them right now. The crime statistics are good in this neigh- borhood.” Most burglaries, he added, are crimes of opportunity. Keep your garage doors down, doors locked and don’t leave valuables in your cars, he suggested. While bur- glaries are down, fraud and iden- tity theft are up. Unfortunately, he said, deputies can’t protect you from that type of victimiza- tion. Don’t hesitate to call Also down, Patella reported, are suspicious activity calls to the department. He’d like to see those calls go up. “Ninety-nine percent of the time,” he said, “it’s nothing, but one percent of the time it is. Those calls also give us an opportunity to interact with our residents. We get to meet them, and they get to meet us.” “You are not burdening the sheriffs when you call them,” Spitzer stressed. Report all sus- picious activity; the deputies will respond quickly, and don’t mind if it’s a false alarm. That’s why they are there. Spitzer is getting the word out locally and internationally that “We prosecute in Orange Coun- ty,” via signs posted on buses and billboards. “We have signs in L.A. and Long Beach,” he ex- plained, ”and I appeared on TV in Chile, telling the gangs not to come to Orange County.” Chilean gangs, he reports, get visas to go to Disney World. They start in Florida and burglar- ize their way across the county. They dress in camouflage and watch your house. “We’ve ar- rested a tremendous number of them.” During his tenure, the DA’s office has charged 388 peo- ple with home burglaries. Keep it local Supervisor Don Wagner also began his remarks with his rela- tionship to the North Tustin Com- munity. “I live here,” he said. “I’m here tonight to talk to my neighbors.” He expanded on the public safety issue, stressing the role of the community in that effort. “I’m doing what I can to keep the quality of life good here in North Tustin and in Orange County,” he said. “But public safety involves more than law enforcement. It’s empowering communities, bring- ing information to residents; of- fering townhalls on fire safety, CPR classes, women’s self- defense; and alerting people of things to watch out for regarding computer fraud.” “Orange County has six of the safest cities in the state,” he added. But we, like everyone else, have a fentanyl crisis. Wagner noted that from 2016 to 2022, there was a 2,200% increase in fentanyl use statewide, a 1,600% increase in Orange County. The danger, he said, is that it is adulterating other drugs, even legal drugs. That is the reason the county is trying to get Narcan – an effective an- tidote – distributed as widely as possible: not just to first respond- ers, but to teachers, neighbors and parents and in classrooms. “It works,” Wagner said. “It saves lives, if administered at the first signs of an overdose.” Small steps The other major issue in ev- ery community, Wagner noted, is homelessness. The county does a physical count of homeless peo- ple every two years. Although this year’s numbers are not yet available, the last count showed a 16% decrease from the previous tally. “We’re seeing some prog- ress,” the Supervisor advised, “but the problem isn’t solved. It’s an all-hands-on-deck effort.” The Supervisor applauded the state’s experiment with Care Courts. Instead of putting men- tally ill people or drug users in jail, the Care Court connects them with a treatment program. Orange County is one of seven test coun- ties in the state. The program, he admits, has been poorly imple- mented, with criteria and funding decreased, but it is a tool that we have. Another tool that North Tus- tin residents have, Rick Nelson wants his neighbors to know, is FCA itself. “We have been here for 61 years to protect our com- munity and our residents.” Photos by Tony Richards Supervisor Don Wagner talks with a constituent at the FCA meeting. FCA members discuss local issues during an informal meet and greet prior to the meeting. District Attorney Todd Spitzer explains his office's efforts to prosecute criminals. DA Todd Spitzer shares a moment with the FCA audience. "I'm hap- py to be back," he said.