Foothills Sentry May 2022

Foothills Sentry Page 4 May 2022 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 Small victory Dear Editor: I wanted everybody to know how proud I am of Laurel Mal- donado. Knowing first-hand of all the calls, research and Zoom meets with Supervisor Don Wag- ner and county staff, on behalf of residents of OPA and the canyons regarding the Waste Management contract with the county, the dis- crepancies that she’s brought to light have saved residents thou- sands of dollars. She has worked many hours to set things right. Instead of Waste Management charging residents $102 per manure bin, she found language in the contract that says it can only charge $10 a bin, as it’s an organic material that gets recycled. Great job, Laurel! -- and happy birthday. Dru Whitefeather Orange Park Acres Dear Editor: I would like to comment on the outstanding article in the April Sentry regarding Waste Manage- ment. Waste Management’s attempt to raise the rates on the collection of horse manure by some 900% is another example of a large company getting greedy and try- ing to shake-down its customers. The fact that they convinced our county Supervisor Don Wagner to sign off on this piracy smells as bad as the manure itself. As the article pointed out, if not for Lau- rel Maldonado’s refusal to just accept the fact that it was a done deal, Orange Park Acres residents who own horses would be paying more to dispose of the horse ma- nure than to feed them. If you don’t own a horse, this should still concern you, because this contract was supposed to have a public hearing. The hear- ing did not take place; it was only after Wagner and Waste Manage- ment signed the contract that the public was informed. If they did this to the people in OPA, what’s to keep them from decreasing the size of your bins, and increasing your fees by 900%? John Reina Orange Park Acres Dear Editor: This is in response to the April article regarding Laurel Maldo- nado and Waste Management. Seriously Laurel, you were Da- vid against Goliath. You are to be commended for the hours spent studying that contract, your per- sistence, getting a meeting with Supervisor Don Wagner’s office, and leading this effort to preserve what little is left of an equestrian neighborhood, OPA. You have pulled the curtain on closed-door sweetheart deals, and our elected official broker. Super- visor Wagner is required to rep- resent the public and not pander to special interests, in this case Waste Management, and in an- other, Milan Capital (owner of the illegal dump). You have done the heavy lift- ing, and now Orange Park Acres needs to get behind you. Share the phone numbers, emails and any information you have, and I, for one, will happily support your efforts. When one horse owner is compromised, we will all be affected, as horse ownership declines and eventually erodes away. It chips away at the very fabric that makes it possible to be a horse community in the first place. Your efforts have benefited this community, and I thank you. Kim Plehn Orange Park Acres Map flap Dear Editor: Hats off to longtime Orange resident Sam Rodriguez for his efforts in making sure the dis- trict maps were legal. Without his persistence, the majority of the council would have forced one of their selected illegal maps - 105, 108, 109 or 121 - on Orange for a 10-year period. Thank you, Sam, for standing up for our commu- nities. Thanks also to Arianna Barrios and Ana Gutierrez for listening to the people and under- standing the characteristics and boundaries that define our unique neighborhoods. Residents are the ones who decide what our com- munities of interest are, not the city council. It’s a shame the oth- er council members were in such a rush to push maps that never would have stood up in court. I supported Map 119 because it satisfied all the legal require- ments, but I think John Russo was correct about Map 124 being the better map, especially for those that live near the mall. The coun- cil rejected Map 124 before it could be critiqued. The residents were short-changed. Laura Thomas Orange Still waters Dear Editor: (The following remarks were public comments delivered at the April 12 city council meeting.) For over 100 years, Santiago Creek was mined for sand and gravel, creating pits varying be- tween 35 to 150 feet deep. The shallower pits were turned into unpermitted dump sites – mostly for construction-type materials. When the mining companies left, these pits were re-zoned for open space uses. The purpose of the open space zone is “to protect natural re- sources and scenic features for public enjoyment and use, and to set aside areas of the city for active and passive recreational use.” Nowhere in the general plan or zoning code is open space de- fined as a “holding zone.” Past city councils, however, have approved housing develop- ments on these previously mined dump sites, in spite of major opposition by Orange voters. Orange voters have had to run several successful referendums to reverse those decisions and re- tain open space zoning along the creek. The citizens of Orange clearly want the city to keep these former mined areas and dump sites for open space use – not for housing projects on land that requires extensive remediation. City staff has recently identified sufficient land elsewhere in the city that is zoned for housing -- more than enough to comply with the state’s housing needs assessment. Why should the city give up our open space when the city is already below the minimum re- quirement of park acreage per 1,000 persons? It is not that we don’t want more housing in Orange -- it’s all about keeping Santiago Creek as an open space corridor. Shirley Grindle Orange Dear Editor: We are so fortunate to have the beautiful Santiago Creek run- ning through many portions of our city. I would like our Orange City Councilmembers, city staff and our community to reflect on a vision of protecting the last open spaces along the Santiago Creek. Multiple studies have shown that people need open natural spaces for their health and happiness. As stated in a World Health Organization Report: “Urban green spaces can promote mental and physical health, and reduce morbidity and mortality in urban residents by providing psychological relaxation and stress alleviation, stimulating social cohesion and supporting physical activity." We also need to retain these open spaces to help lower climate temperature, prevent extreme flood events and maintain plant and animal diversity, all of which contribute to the health of our environment and that of the residents of Orange. One item that recently caught my interest is the low “quality of life” scores noted in the city’s most recent Housing Element. Our city is at a turning point. We can protect the remaining open space on the floodplain of Santiago Creek by extending Santiago Oaks Regional Park with a natural space wildlife corridor that connects with city parks all of the way to the Santa Ana River. Or, the city can continue on its current path to rezone and promote development on these beautiful natural areas, to the detriment of all. At both the state and federal levels, there are executive orders for a 30 by 30 plan: preserving 30% of our land by the year 2030. There is probably more money available in state, federal and land trust budgets than ever before to assist cities with land acquisition. It makes more sense for our city to be proactive in acquiring funds to purchase these properties, rather than covering them with more developments. In addition, we have multiple sites in our city, carefully delineated in our Housing Element, that are already zoned for mixed use development. Instead of building three- story market-rate units on an area zoned as open space in the creek corridor (the Stonefield Project behind the medical center on Chapman Ave.), or filling the beautiful Chandler- owned ravine with demolition waste (downstream from the former Sully-Miller property), or cementing or asphalting over any of the other open spaces once used for mining or dumping, please consider preserving these areas as open space for all of our community to enjoy. Have vision for the future. Bonnie Robinson Orange Swayed by delay Dear Editor: The self-serving letter of over- adulation from OUSD Board Trustees Andrea Yamasaki and Kris Erickson was painful to read. Their claim that 55% of voter ap- proval is a vast majority is hilari- ous. They failed to mention that two previous bond measures were soundly defeated. The upgrade of the campuses was not at issue. The inability of OUSD to manage these projects has always been the issue. It was easy to predict the construction process failures of these buildings and the VPHS track and practice field. Construction projects are based on schedules, not the fin- ished buildings. OUSD failed miserably during the course of construction. I have developed eight-story office buildings in nine months from the issuance of building permits. OUSD took years to complete small square footage, two-story buildings with simplistic, rectangular designs. OUSD does not have competent in-house construction people to manage these projects. The over- sight committee was just as inex- perienced. They obviously did not prop- erly vet the general contractors and chose poorly. Despite un- precedented favorable weather conditions, the construction pro- cess was three times longer than industry-standard time frames for the construction of these small buildings. Extended construction periods equal higher costs and change orders. This was clearly not a successful implementation of the bond program. This was a perfect example of dereliction of duties and responsibilities. The VPHS track construction is another example of unmitigat- ed incompetence and negligence. Again, OUSD hired a general contractor that failed miserably. The track and field turf had to be done twice. OUSD and the gener- al contractor should have known that concrete/asbestos pipe was utilized during construction in the 1960s. This “bust” further de- layed the second rebuilding time frame. Any professional civil en- gineer, project manager and GC would have anticipated this con- dition, based on the construction year of the school. The original plumbing drawings would have shown the pipe material. Instead of congratulating your- selves, you should offer a public apology to all taxpayers for the years-long delays in completing these projects. Steve Palmer Orange Correction The April Foothills Sentry re- ported that El Modena High grad- uate Freddie Freeman has signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers for $62 million. His salary is $162 million over the next six years. CFO to honor Orange Elks The Community Foundation of Orange invites the public to its “Give Where You Live Gala” on June 2, beginning at 6 p.m. The event will honor Orange Elks Lodge 1475 as the 2022 Community Champion, and in- clude dinner and live and silent auctions at the Grand Gimeno Event Center, 146 North Grand. To become a sponsor or pur- chase tickets, contact the CFO at (714) 288-9909 or info@Com- munityFoundationOfOrange.org. Broadway in the Park, the signature program of the Tustin Area Council for Fine Arts, will be back, Aug. 2 to 6, with its 20th production, “The Wizard of Oz.” A 20 x 40-foot video wall will provide the backdrop to the actors bringing the 1939 classic to life. There will be added seating in Peppertree Park, with reserved tables and children’s pricing available. See tacfa.org . Wizard to debut in Tustin