Foothills Sentry May 2021

Foothills Sentry May 2021 Page 9 of self-serving minions decided to forego the democratic process favored by the actual residents of Orange, and appointed some- one who has been an outspoken supporter of developers -- sound familiar? Although those of us who were watching were not surprised by this overt action to “pad” the council with another Mark Murphy supporter, this “appointee” will unfailingly vote for whatever our mayor feels is best for the city. (Again, a familiar situation.) This appointment eliminated any chance of the people’s will being heard, and once again does a political end- around of the democratic process. How much longer are the citi- zens of Orange going to tolerate the autocracy of this faction? John Reina Orange Dear Editor: This most recent appointment to the city council by Mayor Mark Murphy is a blatant ex- ample of him shepherding into public office those who will ca- ter to his personal agenda, rather than the interests and concerns of the residents. He wants puppets, disguised as team players. Con- versely, John Russo, who Mur- phy did not appoint, despite him being a strong second candidate, is a person who has proven to be even-handed, who actually cares about the residents -- not pretends to care. Unlike Murphy and his appointee, Russo made a written promise to the citizens to reject developers’ donations and actu- ally carry out his constituents’ rational requests. Murphy defended his appoint- ment by stating that he saved tax- payers $150,000 by not having a special election. But Murphy did not appoint a person who District 3 residents endorsed. On the con- trary, Murphy appointed an un- known person, strongly indicat- ing his desire to appoint someone more likely to support his person- al agenda -- and not the residents. If Murphy’s objective is to maintain Republicans in office by appointing a young Republican, then why did Murphy not appoint Russo, a young conservative Re- publican? Instead, Murphy ap- pointed a Republican who the residents do not know and did not vote for, which only leads me to believe that this appointment is nothing more than cronyism. Daniel Correa Orange Dear Editor: During the discussion of whether to appoint or allow the voters to decide their own council representative for District 3, I thought it was interesting that the mayor pro tem brought up that Councilmember Arianna Barrios had also been appointed when she first joined the Rancho Santiago Community College Board of Trustees. Unfortunately, the mayor pro tem left out the details of that appointment. At that time, each applicant for that position was scrutinized in an open, transparent and public process during the appointment proceedings. Their applications were made public; they were each asked to make public statements during the meeting, and each had to respond to public questioning from the trustees about their qualifications. But what was most interesting, was Trustee John Hanna’s comments before a final selection was announced. Hanna made it clear that the Orange County Democratic Party had lobbied the board, made up of almost all Democrats, to make a partisan selection and turn this nonpartisan position into a political issue. However, he and the board, as a whole, were united in their feeling that the choice should not be based on backroom political influence, but be made in the best interest of the community the new trustee would serve. They did not cave to partisan pressure from the left. As a Republican, and one that holds the utmost respect for the electoral process, I was saddened to learn that this recent vacancy on the Orange City Council be- came politicized and was heavily influenced by Republican Party leaders, and that the Republican Party majority went with a parti- san selection rather than allowing the community to make their own choice. When Republicans around Orange County wonder why their philosophy of independence, liberty and self-reliance is falling on deaf ears with the next generation, one just needs to look at these kinds of backroom political machinations that were on embarrassing display with this appointment to the Orange City Council to understand why GOP registration continues to plummet. Political gamesmanship like this will provide the OCGOP with some short-term gains in our city, but it will result in long- term damage to my party and my community. Brian Lochrie Orange Dear Editor: I add my voice to the chorus expressing outrage at the mayor and council majority who have blatantly disregarded the spirit and letter of the law with regards to the vacant council seat. This “vacancy” is of their own doing, playing fast and loose with judi- cial rule. Shall the citizens have to mount more legal efforts to have their voice heard? Carolyn Cavecche had to run a second campaign because council wouldn’t appoint her during a similar race, and the council seat vacated by Murphy in the previous election meant no appointment. But suddenly with Mike Alvarez’ seat, it’s perfectly fine to have a political appointee waltz right in without the vetting of voters. Really? Alvarez should have been thanked for his many years of ser- vice to Orange and continued on to new challenges with our best wishes. Instead, a mess has been created, which stinks of partisan- ship and cronyism. I’m almost ashamed to be a Republican. I say we bring the llama out of retirement and mount a community recall effort! There should have been a special election, and the expense borne by those in leadership who allowed this debacle to be carried out. Heaven help most of our citi- zens who look to their councilp- ersons to represent their districts, let alone the city at large. Lisa Ackerman Baldwin Orange Dear Editor: Thank you, Robert Bell, for your public comment about the illegal election and resignation of Michael Alvarez during the April 13 city council meeting. Your pleas for transparency and ethical integrity have been repeated again and again and again by so many in our community. Why did the mayor move fast to fill the vacancy by appointing someone versus scheduling a special election? Well, that’s easy to figure out. Letting voters decide is too risky. Plus, waiting until Nov. 2 for a full council of seven could delay projects that don’t have council support. Achieving the four votes required for approval of developments could be hard for him to secure. Your stated that what the city council allowed to happen is "a stain in this city," “a significant breach of trust with your constituents” I wholeheartedly agree. The judges will be the Orange voters in 2022 who will confirm if trust is gone. Unfortunately, the 13,500-plus District 3 voters were deprived of the opportunity to elect their council member last November and most recently, in April when four council members decided they knew best and selected the mayor’s nominee. Ana Gutierrez (District 5) and Arianna Barrios (District 1) supported a special election. Your call to "find out what happened, why it happened, and learn from it” is a thoughtful and reasonable request. I made the same request last December and again in March. I have little hope it will happen even though we should continue to ask for it. There is a possible silver lining from this whole mess. Former Mayor pro tem Mike Alvarez is free to tell us what happened the last three years. It would shed a great deal of light on this and a lot of other council decisions. Adrienne Gladson Orange The Tustin Art League will fea- ture artist Robert Burridge in a zoom demonstration, Wednesday, May 12 from 5 to 7 p.m. Burridge will paint, from start to finish, an abstract painting, showing what he does in his studio, from prepping to final varnish and signature. He will also explain his "5Cs": concept, composition, color combo, continue and commit. The public is welcome .Join “Paint the Loose, Realistic Abstract” early to socialize at cccconfer.zoom. us/j/98009215926. Elks video winners advance to state and national finals Three of the 15 entries in the annual Orange Elks Drug Aware- ness Video Contest won at the lo- cal lodge level, advanced through Orange Coast District competi- tion, to then win at the California- Hawaii state level, with one entry continuing to compete nationally. “Stop the Cycle,” a video by Vicki Mull, El Modena High School Instructor, will go on to compete in the post-high school category at the national level, af- ter winning first place at the state level. The national winners will be revealed in July. Two other videos earned state recognition. Cerro Villa Middle School student Keiana DeGrave, Art League to Zoom artist demonstration with Emma Dierking, Nicole Gray and Calista Neske, took sec- ond place in the pre-high school category at the state level with their video, “Think Twice.” Canyon High School’s video entry, “Drug Abuse? No Excuse” by junior Caden Schlechter and Shane Lockwood garnered third place honors at the state level. The Orange Elks, in conjunc- tion with OUSD, has had more national wins than any other lodge in the country. To view the videos, go to You- Tube and search for: Stop the Cy- cle Orange 1475 Post HS; Keiana CVTV Orange 1475 MS Entry; SchlechterCaden Lockwood- Shane Orange Elks. Vicky Mull, "Stop the Cycle." Keiana DeGrave, "Think Twice."