Foothills Sentry December 2021

Page 5 Foothills Sentry December 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 Block buster Dear Editor: I’m writing in rebuttal to a let- ter that you published in the No- vember edition from Daniel P. Gehman of “People for Housing OC” regarding the new California housing legislation. Gehman claims that these new laws are vital in solving the hous- ing crisis, then admits that these laws “will only produce a drop in the bucket” of the housing needed in California. If the end result isn’t going to have much positive effect, then why elimi- nate municipal planning and irre- versibly hand over every street in Orange to investors/developers. Once you cut a tree down, you can’t paste it back together; and once you put apartment units on a single-family street, that street is never the same. As a real estate appraiser with over 20 years of experience, I can assure you that having apart- ments built next door to your single-family home isn’t going to be good for your home’s value. I’ve also seen the differences in communities regarding municipal codes and zoning enforcement. In cities with poor planning and lax code and zoning enforcement, the neighborhoods and infrastructure are far inferior, sometimes to the point of being hazardous. What these new laws will do is to de- grade every municipality in the state. The negative impact will be broad, devastating and perma- nent, but Gehman tries to down- play the enormous scope by citing UC Berkeley’s “Terner Center For Housing’s” report that states that these laws will likely only affect about 9.3% of single- family homes. That means that if you live on an average block with 20 homes, two of those homes will likely be turned into multi- unit properties. And because the City of Orange will no longer have any say regarding where and how many apartments can be built, your street may wind up with a lot more than two of them. If we are not able to regain some control over planning and zoning, Orange will be unrecognizable within a few short years. And, sadly, the housing crisis won’t be solved. Mitch Faris Orange Behaving badly Dear Editor: I am a parent of a student in Orange Unified School District. I am disappointed in how John Ortega, Angie Rumsey and Rick Ledesma have decided to push their political agendas at our board meetings. I believe this is endangering our students. Their words and actions are perpetuat- ing bad behavior by parents at the school board meetings and rewarding aggressive actions to- ward their colleagues. They are also giving misinformation and being disrespectful to other board members. I am appalled at the behavior of parents and how they are treating members of the board. We must keep these meetings civil and respectful. I am grateful to our school board for continuing to keep our students safe and keep- ing our schools open. I support the public health protocols that are in place and believe the safety of students and teachers should be our number one priority. J. Davis Orange Dear Editor: School board members do not deserve to be yelled at, belittled or harassed at a school board meeting. The Orange Unified School District meeting on Nov. 18 left me feeling disheartened. As a member of the community and a parent in the district, I’m concerned about misinformation and disinformation about masks and vaccines that threaten public safety. I understand that some par- ents are hesitant to vaccinate their children, and they have a right to voice their concerns. What they don’t have a right to do is threaten and harass those who do support public health measures. I was disappointed to see par- ents who are opposed to COVID vaccine mandates threatening board members, yelling profani- ties, and behaving in a hostile and disrespectful manner to parents and teachers at the meeting. See- ing Boardmembers Rick Ledes- ma and John Ortega encouraging the crowd and feeding into mis- information added to my disap- pointment. After a long night of public comments, OUSD Board Vice President Andrea Yamasaki of- fered, in a gesture of goodwill and collaboration, to rework the proposed resolutions so that all parties are satisfied, including those hesitant about the vaccine. In response, Ledesma insulted Yamasaki with a condescending, “How long have you been on the board?,” accused her of playing politics, and mocked her and Kris Erickson for their efforts to re- spond compassionately to parent concerns. Ortega and Ledesma continued to rile up the crowd with Ortega and Angie Rumsey stating that there was no way of working together on a shared resolution. I encourage readers to hold trustees John Ortega, Rick Ledes- ma and Angie Rumsey account- able for setting a poor example. I also urge people to speak to board members with basic decency, kindness and respect. S. Chopra Orange Ed. note: Two letter writers asked that their full names not be used out of "concerns for their safety." Dear Editor: Imagine demanding to get kids back to school during a global pandemic, only to pull those same kids in protest of the school dis- trict’s protective measures that al- lowed children’s safe return in the first place. Imagine being on the side of an issue that piles shoes at school district offices, ignorant or un- concerned with the Holocaust imagery, tokenizing and dimin- ishing the historical significance. Imagine being on the side of an issue that draws individuals who behave as witnessed at the most recent school board meetings. Aggressive speeches, banging on windows, physically and verbally threatening school board mem- bers and teachers. I cannot imag- ine being on the side applauding and celebrating these strategies. All this over a state mandate that doesn’t exist and which this board has no governance over. A mandate that — *if* ever enacted by the state — all families will have legal protection to opt out. The misplaced fury from the crowd toward the school board has been unbelievably vitriolic. The pandering from John Ortega and Rick Ledesma, the politick- ing from them over a purely performative resolution that will have zero impact on the state’s public health mandates, have been incredible. The disrespect shown to parents other than those they’re pandering to, the disre- spect to their fellow trustees, the misinformation, and the virtue signaling from Ortega, Ledesma, and now Angie Rumsey, have reached new heights. Public commenters on Nov. 18 implored the board to listen to the parents, to make a stand and represent them. To that point, I’d like to express my gratitude to OUSD for having done just that. I am proud to be represented by a school district that has followed the science, the law, and com- mon sense during an ongoing world wide health crisis. Without OUSD’s proactive and thought- ful attention to public health pro- tocols, we certainly would not be back to school for in-person learning. In fact, OUSD is among the first large districts in Califor- nia to return, a remarkable feat, for which we owe the district our gratitude, not scorn. Our family is truly grateful to be back, and we give credit to the board members who do represent us, stand for us, respect us and in fact have shown respect to even those who oppose them. Thank you for upholding the law and your oaths of office with such careful consideration. The board that does these things represents me. Stacey Kirschner Meis Orange Double trouble Dear Editor: This past weekend is a painful reminder of how busy the Costco shopping center can be. Looks like the holiday shoppers are out now, and one entrance to the cen- ter was blocked by cars running the red light to get onto Bryan. With Costco’s effort to install one of the biggest gas stations in the State of California -- 32 pumps -- it’ll be holiday season traffic every day for anyone who travels on Bryan or El Camino Real. Even during the months of Jan- uary to October, the weekly after- noon rush hour traffic on Bryan from Jamboree to beyond Tustin Ranch Road is a nightmare. It was irresponsible and poor judgment for the city council to back such a project, not do its due diligence and allow exemptions at the ex- pense of the health and safety of its own community members. Traffic is only one concern. The health of the surrounding community and the environmen- tal impact over time will be dev- astating. With the contamination left behind by the Goodyear Tire Center, and the output of a 32- pump mega gas station, Costco and the Tustin City Council are willing to jeopardize the health and safety of their own com- munity. They’ve circumvented the process with simplified en- vironmental and traffic studies that were meant to support their position. Sadly, Costco is willing to jeopardize the health of its em- ployees and the community who have supported it for the last 29 years. With so many residents within just 200 feet of this mega gas station, we may join the Cancer Clusters list created by big busi- ness who put their own interests before the community they serve. I hope Costco investors think jeopardizing our health and safety was worth it. Laura Michaels Tustin Blown away Dear Editor: Every day, city staff and pri- vate contractors use gas-powered leaf blowers, lawn mowers and weed wackers when people and animals are present. Bystanders are bombarded with dust, debris, particulates, exhaust fumes and excessive noise. It is surprising that the operation of these devic- es is permitted, on a daily basis, within close proximity to people and animals. A large percentage of the population suffers from respiratory issues, hearing loss, stress and anxiety directly related to environmental health hazards. The situation is exacerbated when these devices are operated during periods of poor air quality due to Santa Ana Wind conditions and/ or wildfires. Out of consideration and re- spect for people and animals, please explore the numerous en- vironmentally friendly alterna- tives (brooms, rakes) and phase out the use of obsolete, polluting gas-powered leaf blowers, lawn mowers and weed wackers. The current use of gas-powered leaf blowers violates City of Or- ange Municipal Code. The Or- ange County Grand Jury report on leaf blowers declared that leaf blower operations represent health hazards to the citizens of Orange County. State law man- dates that the sale of gas-powered landscape equipment is to be phased out by 2024. So far, 556 people have signed our petition, “Ban Polluting leaf blowers in City of Orange” at change.org . I am asking the city to resolve this issue. Joel Robinson Orange