Foothills Sentry - November 2022

Foothills Sentry Page 6 November 2022 Guest Commentary 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 Voters must not let OUSD repeat history By Barry Resnick In 1987, I moved to Orange with my young family. At the time, the Orange Unified School District (OUSD) was recognized as one of the finest in the state. My family’s arrival coincided with what was the beginning of decades of chaos, with a revolv- ing door of OUSD boardmembers whose goals were to dismantle public education. Many of those serving enrolled their own chil- dren in private schools, distorted their backgrounds and were be- holden to private interest groups and various politicians. With a new majority on the OUSD board, the district is now moving in the right direction, but a slate of candidates who are running for seats this November might bring the district back to those dark days. It has already been alleged that three of the candidates vying to take over our public schools have misstated their backgrounds in an attempt to fool voters. The chaos that plagued OUSD for so many years can be traced back to the indictment of four board members in the 80s. The four were charged with willful misconduct in office. After the indictments, a cadre of individuals, whose strings were pulled by special interest groups and whose backgrounds raised questions, began to take over what was left of an already dysfunctional OUSD board. The disruption they created in one four-year period saw five super- intendents come and go. A May 1994 Los Angeles Times article reported that one candidate who had won a seat on the OUSD board was on house arrest during the campaign. An- other pled guilty to contributing to the delinquency of a minor a few years before winning a seat on the board. In 2001, a successful recall re- moved the cast of characters who had made OUSD a laughingstock in the state. A decade and a half later, the elections of Kris Erickson, Kathy Moffat and Andrea Yamasaki brought stability to the OUSD board, as they focused on students, not personal agendas or the deep pockets of special interest groups. Today, OUSD is on the preci- pice of going back to the years of chaos. The group of individu- als hoping to take control of the OUSD board are supported by members of the Orange County Board of Education (OCBE) and share many of their extremist views on public education. Like the OCBE members, these candidates would be happy to dis- mantle public schools in our com- munity and privatize education, in return for the special interest funding they are receiving. All are running on the new “parental rights” platform, which is just a guise to take over for OUSD’s professional educators and create a posse of parents to scrutinize textbooks and curricu- lum, as a start. Should these candidates succeed in winning seats, the OUSD will find itself back in the chaos of years ago. It’s important that candidates who support public education, and serve for the children, not special interests, are elected on Nov. 8. OUSD needs Kris Erickson, Sean Griffin, Kathy Moffat and Andrea Yamasaki so the OUSD can keep moving forward. Please vote for them to save our Orange public schools. Barry Resnick lives in Orange and served as an OUSD board member from 1989-93. Voters' voices Dear Editor: I attended the 2022 Orange City Council and Mayoral Can- didates Forum, sponsored by the Orange Chamber of Commerce, at Santiago Community College on Sept. 22. It was an honor to have Gaddi Vasquez, former UN ambassa- dor, former director of the Peace Corps, an Orange resident, as the moderator. Ambassador Vasquez is truly a great American, and his presence underscored the impor- tance of this event. However, I was a bit disappoint- ed in the very soft nature of the questions put forth by Vasquez. While I understand this event was a “forum,” and not a debate, and while I did hear Vasquez use the word “friendly” in his open- ing statement, like many others I spoke to at the event, I feel an op- portunity was missed. All candidates have pretty much the same viewpoints toward the top issues – public safety, homelessness, fiscal responsibility. These are undoubtedly important issues, and while it was good to hear the candidates talk about them, there was an elephant in the room that went unaddressed. Other than members Ana Gutierrez and Arianna Barrios, Orange residents are just not feeling represented by our current city council. The voice of the citizen is not being heard over the voice of big business and special interests. We are desperate for a council of representation, transparency and respect. And while Mayor Mark Murphy has said that one recent meeting was an anomaly, the truth is, with the current city council, there’s been a continuing pattern of disrespect toward fellow members and Orange citizens. And, Councilmembers Jon Dumitru and Kim Nichols put a further exclamation point on this with their position that America’s Constitution defends their right to exhibit a complete lack of dig- nity, respect and decorum. The recent Foothills Sentry headline stated it perfectly – according to our current council, civil servants needn’t be civil. While some may argue this issue will go away with Councilman Chip Monaco, one incumbent at the forum actually repeated Monaco’s now infamous words. In talking about issues about the Village of Orange, Councilmember Kathy Tavoularis stood in front of the audience and proclaimed, “I’m sick of hearing about it.” This is the battle cry of our current council. Instead of trying to deal with an issue, instead of trying to really listen to any challenges citizens are having, it just wants to quiet it all with “I’m sick of it.” Again – public safety, the homeless concern, fiscal responsibility – all important. But what Orange wants to know of our candidates is – if elected -- what specific actions will they take to bring dignity, respect and decorum back to our city council? I most strongly recommend that Orange citizens take time to research the candidates. Check out their newspaper ads and websites, and specifically look at their endorsements. Anyone endorsed by the current mayor should be a flashing “danger” sign, along with endorsements from current members Nichols, Dumitru, Tavoularis, and especially Chip Monaco. We have the power to change things! Let’s elect new voices to truly represent Orange citizens! Vote Dan Slater for Mayor. Vote for John Russo in District 3. District 4, let’s not recycle previous council members – vote for Chris Horton. And District 1 – keep Arianna Barrios, one of the two lone voices of the people, on our current council. Tom Hannah Orange Dear Editor: I have always enjoyed read- ing this paper about the different events and issues of this commu- nity. However, I was surprised and shocked when I saw on pg. 20 a very nasty political ad. On the bottomhalf of the page is a sinister looking "STOP OUTSIDE FORCES" in large letters. The political ad then proceeds to defame and slander five people, in my opinion. I do not know any of these persons personally. The deceptive ad is apparently against charter schools. I really can't be sure, as the ad never states what the real issue is concerning these people. The ad highlights certain words in bold letters like “twister, only, storm, destruction, Jeff Barke, hate, destroy and outsiders," all sounding evil and bad. The faces of four of them are shown as if they are in a twister with their full names in tiny print. I don't understand why Barke’s face is not shown, as he is supposedly the mastermind of these outsiders who want to destroy the public schools of OUSD. The ad uses possibly half-truths or very insidious half-lies about these people. It doesn't even say what these candidates are running for, just smears their integrities. The big problem to me, is that no one or no organization is tak- ing responsibility for this politi- cal ad. If there is, it's too small to see. I am saddened and dismayed that Foothills Sentry would print such a spurious piece of political garbage. Please print who was in back of this dirty political ad in your next paper. I'm sure other read- ers would be very curious to who produced this type of ad. I don't care what political party someone is attracted to, but there must be some standards in advertising or has that gone to the wayside also? Maybe I'm just naive. John Clark Orange Editor’s note: The sentence that appeared at the bottom of the ad, “Paid for by private citizen Lynn Frediani,” did not print legibly on many copies of the October Sentry. It did print legibly on some of them. The “paid for” line disappeared during the printing process. It was never the Sentry’s or the citizen’s intent to deceive. Dear Editor: The OC Register recently en- dorsed Mark Murphy for mayor. It was a disappointing article, as it could not be farther from the truth. It is the residents of Or- ange that fight for our city, not the elected officials hired to do so. I am speaking from direct ex- perience, as I am one of those concerned residents fighting for a better Orange. Because of the multitude of issues plaguing our city, the residents of Orange have banded together to share our con- cerns and tools to stop the dam- age being done. Many projects have consequences that cannot be undone if they are completed. We citizens spend countless hours away from our families and use our own hard-earned dollars to hire attorneys and win. • Orange residents uncover grant concerns and poor planning of the Village Mall plan. Rescinded by council after the information was made public. • Orange residents launch refer- endum to overturn ill-conceived housing development; hire attor- ney to address illegal dumping on that site. • Orange residents contact OC Health and local agencies to stop a cemetery from being built on toxic landfill next to homes and preschool. A home had to be de- molished due to landfill move- ment & methane. • Orange residents fight and sup- port Santiago Creek, Greenway Alliance to stop a housing project adjacent to Grijalva Park. • Self-funded Mary’s Kitchen re- placed with city services paid for with taxpayer dollars. • The Orange Unfunded Pen- sion Liability current balance is $278,790,000. • Orange has 1.78 acres of public park space per 1,000 residents, which is less that the three acres per 1,000 state requirements. Much of what little open space we have is currently slated for de- velopment with city planning. It’s time for a change, as Mark Murphy has spoken loud and clear with the choices listed above and many more. The residents have also spoken, and continue to fight for our city. It’s time the truth is exposed. Sharon Gallasso Orange Dear Editor: Carol LaBounty and Greg Goodlander’s letters to the editor in the October Sentry regarding Madison Klovstad Miner’s fuzzy career experience as an “educa- tor in OUSD“ and as a “speech therapist” prompted me to do my own research. After all, Klovs- tad Miner is applying for a job to make decisions for one of the largest school districts in the State of California, and it is important that we, as informed citizens, get this right. My husband and I have lived in OUSD since 1980. Both of my sons attended OUSD schools during the 1990s, when a series of unqualified candidates with their own agendas took over the school board. A group of “moms” were allowed into the classrooms to teach their version of “abstinence- only” sex education at Cerro