Foothills Sentry - July 2021

Page 5 Foothills Sentry July 2021 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 2021 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 "Letters" continued on page 6 ment is nearly 24,000 units.) Citizens in other cities are coming to the conclusion that something has to change in order to provide homes for their adult children. OC is still a very invit- ing place to live, but it is grow- ing too expensive for folks to live here before they “make it.” People in service industries are typically “housing stressed” or even “severely housing stressed,” spending up to 50% or more of their income on housing. Villa Park’s numbers don’t even amount to a drop in the bucket in comparison to the Southern Cali- fornia numbers overall. Even so, every city should strive to do its part, and this may mean we open our hearts and minds to new para- digms of “gently fuller” suburbs. Or we can continue to say to the less affluent “I’ve got mine; best of luck to you.” Daniel Gehman Orange People For Housing Orange County Lost leaders - VP Dear Editor: I am writing on behalf of Rob- bie Pitts. I have known him for many years, and believe him to be of high integrity and capa- bility combined with a gentle, kindly manner. His tenure in the Villa Park City Council has been served with transparency and dedication. In my view, he has al- ways strived to do the best for the interests of the citizens of Villa Park, while preserving the unique traditions and ideals that we have come to enjoy. We have benefit- ted from his long and tireless ef- forts, and believe he represents what we value. It is evident to me that his focus is to keep this city a beautiful, safe, quiet and rural community. Councilman Robbie Pitts deliv- ered this statement at the May 25 city council meeting Last year, during my tenure as Villa Park mayor, I was fortunate to work with an MBA group that was producing a white paper fo- cusing on the qualities that make for a great city council person. Two attributes that stuck out, as things that should not be a part of what motivates us as a council, are “power“ and “recognition.” Both have been shown to drive the worst behavior and approach- es to governing. These types of behavior cause us to go counter to our values, personally, and as a city. For the past five years that I have been on council, I have seen these two approaches take shape and previous councils be- have badly because of power and recognition. I endured the Bill Nelson, Bob Collacott power and recognition efforts through- out Nelson’s tenure on council. I saw Bill and Bob go after Coun- cilwoman Diana Fascenelli in a very unprofessional manner and spread hate mail throughout our city because of differences of opinion. I saw Bob untruthfully obtain his seat for the second term by not following the process, us- ing untruthful tactics to get in and lying in court under oath. I thought things would get better after Bill Nelson left the council, but things are right back where they were again. Our mayor, so starved for recognition related to Winter Wonderland, recently went behind my back as the Community Foundation li- aison, to negotiate a deal for the city to sponsor the event that she championed. The council had originally asked that I work with the foun- dation to transition the event, but she went to foundation leadership behind my back and sent me a text telling me what she had ar- ranged, and that it wasn’t neces- sary for me to speak to them. She also asked that her con- versation with the individual she spoke to remain confidential, but that person refused. I do not be- lieve that behavior is representa- tive of our values here in the city, and certainly not in the spirit of the transparency she ran her cam- paign on. And last but not least, at the beginning of the public housing meeting, the mayor insisted that a longtime resident of Villa Park who is active in our community (my wife), leave the chamber to make room for “citizens” to speak to the housing element. It was obvious to all that no matter how many people were sitting in chamber, we would have stayed all night if necessary, to hear everyone’s input without having to insist that someone leave. On top of that, she allowed one of Bob’s longtime friends and the person who presented his fal- sified documents to the city when he ran for office, to remain in the chamber, exit and come back to speak twice about the same mat- ter. That put Bob’s friend well be- yond the speaker time limit. The mayor displayed a double set of standards and departure from proper meeting protocols simply to exert her position. This behavior is one that I did not ex- pect, especially as my family and I walked the streets of Villa Park to help get her elected and en- dorsed her candidacy. I did not run for my seat to be subjected to behaviors counter to our community values. I am also concerned that people will not take part in our political process and help to govern our city if these behaviors and tactics con- tinue into the future. We have been fortunate to at- tract some really great people to our city because of our repu- tation, but if our public officials do not set the right example by following our values, we will become the place people do not want to come to -- or stay. I appreciate and thank this community for the support you have shown me throughout my tenure here on council. I can only hope that things will improve for the good of Villa Park. Robbie Pitts Villa Park City Councilman Open letter to Villa Park residents Robbie Pitts loves Villa Park and his volunteerism is appreci- ated by those who know him! Eileen DeSantis Villa Park Dear Editor: After watching the recent VP council meeting, I felt the need to support our Councilman Robbie Pitts. I’ve known Robbie for eight years. He welcomed my family with open arms and introduced us to everything Villa Park. He loves our city and everyone in it. To see and hear him so upset makes me question what is actu- ally transpiring in our city. Is our city traveling in the right direc- tion? Pitts is an experienced pillar of our community, and to see him openly admit the challenges he is experiencing with the current council and mayor is disheart- ening. I can only hope that the council heard Robbie’s message regarding power and recognition and that they will take the time to reflect upon the reasons that led each of them to want to be a part of our council. Moving forward, it is time for them come together and to make it a goal to renew their commitment to the city and its residents. Amy Luciene Villa Park Dear Editor: We support Robbie Pitts and believe his comments at the Villa Park recent council meeting were very appropriate and accurate. If more people were to speak up about these types of issues, we would have a much better city and city council. Robbie did an outstanding job during his recent time as mayor of Villa Park. We need more people like him on our city council. Bob Zimmerman Villa Park Dear Editor: Political discourse alive and well in VP? Political discourse is the formal exchange of reasoned views, which provides alternative courses of action. Those courses of action should be considered to provide solutions to problems we face as a community. When a councilmember pub- licly expresses issues of a very serious nature being done, or having been done, by other coun- cilmembers, including perjury in court, being reelected untruthful- ly, denying a constituent access to a council meeting, preferential treatment of one constituent over another, a conversation regarding the disposition of city funds re- quested to be “confidential,” join- ing of council members to unseat another because of a difference of opinion, we are in serious trouble. When an elected official feels that his opinion has no relevance, and has no other option but to say so in public comment and walk out of the meeting, it is clear that we have reached an all time low in civility and effectiveness. It’s important to understand that it’s not the personal feelings of the councilmember that are the issue. It’s the fact that the many VP residents who voted for this individual are no longer being represented. We have lost a voice, silenced for reasons that should never happen. It appears that some council- members are not interested in hearing other alternatives to our concerns, only their own. This is not a problem of personalities, it’s a problem of all residents’ view- points being heard. Barry Denes Former mayor, City of Villa Park Learning languished Dear Editor: Over the past several months, many of our grade schools and middle schools returned to “regu- lar instruction,” but the idea that OUSD has been “normal since the fall” is preposterous (Guest Commentary, May). Our 16-year-old daughter was a junior at El Modena, and we received the hearty invitation to “return to the classroom” last fall. We learned kids were “allowed” to bring their devices to a class- room, and do their “learning” seated inside plastic partitions, looking at their screens while the teachers did their online thing. What is the point of that? Driving to and from school to accomplish the same level of non-education that could be achieved at home? Our daughter returned to the classroom. Her first day back, she had one classmate in one class, and a few in-person ASB mem- bers during their session. Accord- ing to the school’s reports, 275 kids showed up on campus that week. Many AP kids elected to NOT take some of their exams, be- cause they didn’t feel like they knew anything about the topic, after months of talking heads on a computer screen. How many kids will be entering college with few- er units (equals “needing to take more classes,” equals “more time in college,” equals “more debt”)? Yes, we (the parents, not the school board) got most sports back, but with a maximum of two guests who had to be over 18 … no students, no siblings, no “Rowdy Rooters.” Homecoming, winter formal, prom? At our school, some par- ents saved prom, but pretty much all the rest of it is in the “non- memory” bin for another graduat- ing class while the school board embraces expired mandates and guidelines. The fear mongers continued to preach things like “how would YOU feel if we opened up and then one of those "one in a mil- lion" children passed away here?” Mental health professionals and ER doctors have been telling us that suicides overdoses and hos- pitalizations harmed far more school-age kids than this virus. Board President Kathy Moffat is likely well aware of this, because the board received a briefing on these troubling and preventable statistics. It’s too late for a second class of seniors. The data was there to completely open the schools last fall, and they failed us. Let’s hope more voters wake up and make some big changes in our next election. Karl Seppala Orange