The Wall That Heals - Fullerton Observer

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Page 10 FULLERTON OBSERVER EARLY APRIL 2012 Council Report continued from page 4 OTHER COUNCIL BUSINESS •2.5% MWD Pass Through Water Rate Increase: A scheduled public hearing on the issue of the passthrough water rate increase was authorized for renotification to May 15th because only 3 councilmembers were present. Approved 3-0 to reschedule for when the entire council is present. •Extra Legal Services: The council passed an agreement to hire the law firm of Liebert Cassidy Whitmore to provide legal services at $300 per hour on labor issues related to the anticipated discipline of police officers. approved 3-0 •Treasurer’s Report: Treasurer Phyllis Garrova made a presentation on city finances for Jan. 2012. Details are online in the agenda packet for the March 20th meeting. Overall the city seems to be in good shape with a beginning of month cash balance of $112,286,758. and an ending balance of $116,624,229. The city bank account has $8,952,372 in it with $3,758,193 in outstanding items. Total intrest received in Jan. was $147,294. The city holds $68,212,564 in bonds. •Redevelopment: Audience comments to Item #6 on the agenda included Jane Rands’ question about whether Redevelopment salaries and staff payments of $1.7 million for 6 months was appropriate when Redevelopment has been disbanded. City Manager Joe Felz explained that the oversight committee will overrule some of the items, but that the city wanted to get everything on the list. Another item regarding a $240,000 fine to the city for not spending down bond funds was brought up by Greg Sebourn. City Manager Felz said that the city had been found not to be at fault because the delays were related to the Redevelopment dissolve, design issues, and high speed rail audit. Treasurer Garrova said spending had been delayed, but “we have $30 million left and anticipate spending it within the next few years.” PUBLIC COMMENTS •Jewelry Store Robbery Arrest: Fullerton Police were thanked by several speakers for great work in arresting five suspects in the March 16th attempted robbery of All Phases Jewelry on Commonwealth. The suspects ran into the surrounding area after their get-away car crashed into a vehicle parked in front of Max Bllomfield’s Café on Malden. Police rounded up and arrested the suspects; Randolph Long, 21 of Texas; Devon Ridge, 22 of Compton; Obiesie Enwezor, 18 of LA; Jayson Coleman, 20 of LA; and Nelvin Cook, 23 of LA. Cook was taken to UCI Medical by ambulance for a gunshot wound received when the store employee shot him. •Benches: Benches at the transportation center which have been removed by OCTA will be replaced said City Manager Joe Felz in answer to a public comment. •Lawsuits: Several speakers commented on the large number of lawsuits against the city. There was no reporting out on the closed session which discussed the existing or anticipated litigation against the city. •Booking Photo: Kelly Thomas’ stepmom Dana Pape does not believe that the booking photo from Kelly’s 2009 arrest for trespassing is really him and wants to see who else was arrested the same day as Kelly. She said errors happen all the time. •Jail Suicide: Kelly’s Army members stood with Dean Gochenour’s family over the weekend. “We want to find out the Councilmember Bankhead said that tremendous bond debt had been created to build the library, community center, affordable housing and more before Redevelopment was done away with. This does not increase taxes to the city. The bonds are paid off by property taxes returning to the city. Approved 2-1 (Whitaker, no) •Crosswalk Removal: There were so many good questions from the audience on safety related to the issue of removing crosswalks in certain areas of the city that the issue was moved forward to a future meeting in order to hear what the Transportation & Circulation Commission had to say about it. In particular Jane Rands, Chair of the Bicycle Users Sub Committee, wanted to know why comments opposing the removal of the crosswalks had not made it into the agenda back up materials so that council could make a balanced decision. She also requested that the BUSC be designated full committee status instead of being a subcommittee under the Transportation & Circulation Commission. •Contractor Replaced: Due to problems with the current State College Separation contractor, staff recommended a local company. Bike advocates including Vince Buck, Matt Leslie, and Jane Rands suggested a new design would be welcome - one which included a bike path. The new consultant said “Everything is possible.” approved 3-0 •Bike Blvd: Approved 3-0 to submit an application for a $600,000 transportation grant. City’s share would be $60,000 to build a bike blvd. from the transportation center to Acacia Ave. It would be a good match with the Bike Share Project. (See page 4, Good News for Bicyclists for more on these projects) •Downtown Report: Mayor Quirk-Silva asked that several things be put on an upcoming agenda: an update of conditions downtown; how field usage for sports teams is allocated; details of boards each councilmember sits on. Next Meeting 6:30pm, Tues. April 3. truth about what happened to him,” said one member. See frontpage for story on the in-custody suicide and officer charged with destroying evidence. •Police Complaint Procedures: Ron Thomas said he received a message from a person having trouble filing a complaint. According to the message, the Watch Commander told the person “I’m tired of playing with you, get out of here.” Thomas also asked for the city attorney to explain how officer Jay Cicinelli got hired by the city without fitting set requirements. And he asked how much the city contributes to the homeless issue. •Coyote Hills: Several speakers from Sunny Hills High School club “Hills 4 Hills” spoke about the importance of keeping the West Coyote Hills as open space. Concerns about developing the property included current lack of park space in north Orange County; loss of water quality and quantity; loss of habitat for endangered animals and plant species; dangers of locating homes on methane/benzene former oil fields; additional traffic congestion; crowded classrooms. They asked Council to reconsider its approval of the 760-home project for the 510 acre property and reconsider saving the area as a regional open space park for the five surrounding cities. “Chevron’s plan will create too much traffic for all our cities; Classes are already too full; It will ruin the watershed, endanger habitat for animals and plants, and more.” - Hills4Hills Club at Sunny Hills High formed to help save Coyote Hills as a regional park. LOCAL NEWS The Who’s on First Base Recall Continued from frontpage Doug Chaffee got 10,256, losing out to McKinley by 100 votes after the public safety unions developers spent big bucks to support McKinley (and would the current unfortunate aftermath to the Kelly Thompson killing been different if that election had turned out differently?). Greg Sebourn got 6,375 votes and and Barry Levinson 6,092. Levinson and Sebourn are frequent contributors to the Friends for Fullerton’s Future (FFFF) blog and strongly support the recall. Travis Kiger is a major force behind the FFFF blog and is supported by Shawn Nelson and Chris Norby. Jane Rands ran for the 72nd Assembly seat as a Green Party candidate in the last election, (gaining 6.1% of the vote in the district) and was an early supporter of the recall. She has been a writer for the Observer (as has Georgieff). The other candidates are newcomers to electoral politics and little is known about most of them, although Georgieff and Alverez (as well as Levinson, Sebourn, Kiger and Rands) serve or have served on city boards, committees or commissions. But, once it is over it is not over. We get to go at it again in November when, once again, there will be three seats in play. Bruce Whittaker is serving a two year term and is up for reelection; and Dr. Jones’ term is up even if he survives the recall (and if he does not the person who gains that seat must run again). Sharon Quirk-Silva, whose term is up, has decided to run in the new 65th assembly district against Chris Norby who currently represents the 72nd Assembly district. The new district is 32% Republican and 31% Democrat and much of it is new to Norby, giving Quirk-Silva an outside chance of winning. It is a two person race, but with the new open primary system it must be run twice even though one candidate will get more than 50% of the vote in the primary. At this point speculation on the election outcome is premature. The only sure thing is that someone will win and the seats will be filled (or remain filled). And no doubt some of the candidates that did not get elected in June will be back again in November. It is possible that we could have an entirely new Council come December. Candidates in the June 5th Recall Election The June ballot will list the question: “Shall candidate’s name be recalled from the office of City Council Member?” Below that will appear a list of the candidates running for that particular seat. •Running to replace Don Bankhead: Jane Rands, Paula Williams, Greg Sebourn, and Rick Alvarez. •Running to replace Dick Jones: Glenn Georgieff, Roberta Reid, Travis Kiger, Dorothy Birsic and Matthew Hakim. •Running to replace Pat McKinley: Doug Chaffee, Mathew Rowe, Sean Paden, and Barry Levinson. Go to the Clerk’s page under “Departments” at cityoffullerton.com and then hit on “Elections” for a great overview of the process.
EARLY APRIL 2012 LOCAL NEWS A CERT volunteer learns the proper way to use a fire extinguisher. PHOTO BY JERE GREENE Free Disaster Assistance Classes Offered This Month A new session of the Fullerton Fire Department’s “Community Response Volunteer/Community Emergency Response Team” is set to get under way this month. This free CRV/CERT program consists of classes held from 8am to 5pm on three consecutive Saturdays, April 14, 21 and 28, at the City of Fullerton Maintenance Yard, 1580 W. Commonwealth Ave. The CRV/CERT Program is designed to train citizens to organize their families and neighborhoods to be prepared to react to emergencies. Based on a model developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, CRV/CERT members are trained to provide immediate assistance to disaster victims, as well as organize volunteers to assist fire, police and maintenance departments during emergencies. Fullerton Fire Chief Wolfgang Knabe said subjects taught in the training classes include disaster preparedness, basic first aid, fire safety, basic search and rescue methods, and proper use of a fire extinguisher. Instructors are firefighters, paramedics and specialists in the areas of disaster preparations and terrorism. Class size is limited to 50 persons and pre-registration is required. CERT volunteers will also undergo a background check by the Fullerton Police Department. Participants may bring a sack lunch each day. Upon successful completion of the training, participants will receive a certificate. Persons interested in joining the CRV/CERT training can either contact the CRV program manager at (714) 773- 1316 or by email CRV@fullertonfire.org. Registration may also be accomplished online by logging onto the website at www.cityoffullerton.com. and going to the Fire Department section under “Departments,” or by coming to Fire Department Headquarters, 312 E. Commonwealth Ave., anytime between 7am and 5pm, Mon. through Thurs. FULLERTON OBSERVER Page 11 Acacia Earns Over $50,000 in Successful School Fundraiser Acacia’s students created artwork which was auctioned off during the event. by Denise Mitchell support education, we are so appreciative After a year of preparation and planning, the hard-working parents, teachers, grandparents, friends, family and businesses came together to contribute all that they could at Acacia’s Casino Royale held at the Coyote Hills Golf Club. This was the first fundraising event under the newly formed Acacia Elementary School Foundation and included dinner, a silent and live auction, speakers, dancing and gaming tables. Event co-chairs, Paula Esterson, Lisa Rowley and their team of parent organizers found their efforts greatly rewarded with a night filled with fun, enthusiasm and inspiration far beyond their expectations. “Acacia and the entire Fullerton community worked together to create a magical night in support of our kids,” said Paula Esterson. “We are so grateful for the commitment that we received.” The Fullerton business community embraced the event with much needed sponsorships.” “We are so fortunate to live in a city with caring businesses and citizens that of their investment in our 650 children at Acacia.” said Principal Dr. Karen Whisnant. The event raised over $50,000 with over $16,000 earmarked specifically for much needed library upgrades. Already, the Foundation Board has voted to allocate funds to secure the highly-valued Accelerated ReaderTM and All the Arts programs for next year. The remaining funds will be applied to the basic programs that have benefitted our kids for years. After exciting live and silent auctions and engaging speeches and presentations, the event concluded with dancing, music and casino gaming tables providing an entertaining and enjoyable evening. “There was a true sense of joy that we had come together as a community to support such a valuable cause, and at such an urgent time,” observed Lisa Rowley. “Our committee is already excitedly discussing possibilities for next year’s event.” For more information or to contribute to the Acacia Elementary School Foundation, please visit: www.theacaciapartnership.org. Above: Acacia’s teachers At Left: The parent organizers are already planning next year’s event.
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The Wall That Heals - Fullerton Observer

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