September 18

VOLUME 29, NUMBER 9 

And... 

Remaining Emotionally Fit 

Temecula Valley Hospital 

Wins Award 

What Is the Effect of Marital 

Separation? 

Rancho Springs 

NICU Wins Top 

Award 

page 20 

SEPTEMBER 2018 

Azusa Pacific 

University 

Teachers are 

Heroes Program 

page 18 

2017 Murrieta/Wildomar 

2018 - Award Celebration 

This Group of Businesses & Individuals are Truly Remarkable in our Communities 

Announces 

Temecula Sunrise Rotary 

John Tamalunas 

as New President 

PHOTO: Kip Cothran, Photographer 

SEE PAGE 26 

The Rotary Club of Temecula Sunrise recently 

inducted its 2018-2019 president, John Tamalunas. 

John is a relatively new member, having joined the 

club on August 15, 2017. 

SEE PAGE 26 

$200M Expansion Moves 

Forward for I-15 

At the August meeting of the Board of Directors for the Economic Development 

Coalition, information regarding Interstate 15 and the progress being 

made to ease traffic was presented by speaker, Pat Thomas, Public Works 

Director/City Engineer for the City of Temecula. 

Thomas spoke to a packed room at the Economic Development Coalition 

Board meeting during its regularly scheduled meeting and described what Phase 

2 and Phase 3 of the French Valley Interchange will look like among other things. 

SEE PAGE 31 

DMV Wait is So Long 

Your New Car Qualifies for 

Historic Plates 

by State Senator Jeff Stone (R-Riverside County) 

There’s a long-running 

joke in California 

that instead of jail 

time to punish the “bad 

guys,” just make them 

wait in line at the DMV 

office instead. 

That joke isn’t as 

far-fetched these days as 

some residents who have 

to use DMV services are 

subject to wait times of 

eight hours or longer. 

SEE PAGE 14 

PWR PRESENTS 

JOAN SPARKMAN 

COMMUNITY 

4 

Temecula Tax Planner Earns 

Certified Tax 

Strategist Designation 

12 

FINANCIAL 

Protect Your Eyes from UV 

HEALTH 19

www.TheValleyBusinessJournal.com 

THE VALLEY BUSINESS JOURNAL 

2 September 2018

September 2018 



3 

In this issue 

2017-2018 Murrieta/Wildomar Award Celebration 1 

Temecula Sunrise Rotary Announces John Tamalunas1 

$200M Expansion Moves Forward for I15 1 

DMV Wait Is So Long1 

Community 4-11 

6 Things You Ought to Know About California Homestead Law 7 

Preventing Falls in the Home 9 

Keeping Up with the Rate of Change 10 

Temecula Tax Planner Earns Certified Tax Strategist Designation 12 

Understanding Your Data Usage 15 

What is the Effect of Marital Separation on Your Estate Plan? 16 

Leading in Jesus’ Wayabout Leadership 18 

Azusa Pacific University Murrieta Preview Night 18 

Protect Your Eyes from UV 19 

Rancho Springs NICU Wins Top Award 20 

The Foundation for Senior Care Fall Benefit the “Big Show 20 

Temecula Valley Hospita Receives Award 21 

Collagen: The Fountain of Youth 22 

Remaining Emotionally Fit in Everyday Chaos 23 

EXECUTIVE PROFILE: Darlene Wetton 24 

Finished Industrial Land Equals More Local Jobs 25 

A ‘Wobbly’ Housing Market 27 

The Secret Weapon 27 

Arts, Dining and Entertainment 28-31 

September ‘18


4 www.TheValleyBusinessJournal.com 


PWR PRESENTS 

joan sparkman 

on Giving Back to the Community 

Professional Women’s Roundtable 

would like you to join us for this 

very special meeting where we’re 

privileged to introduce PWR Member 

Joan Sparkman. Her many Affiliations, 

Elected Offices and Awards are 

very numerous. 

University of California Affiliations: 

Trustee to the UCR Foundation 

2000-2010, UCR Biomedical Science 

Advisory Board, Chancellor’s Associates, 

A. Gary Anderson Graduate 

School of Management, Watkins Society. 

UCR awards: Honorary Doctorate 

from the Graduate School of Business 

Management. UCR Athena Hall of 

Fame recipient. 

Affiliations include: Chairman 

of the Board of Southwest Healthcare 

Systems, Board Member of Temecula 

Valley Hospital, Rotary Club of 

Murrieta, Circle of Safe-T board and 

founder of the Rape Crisis Forensic 

Exam Unit, UCR Medical School 

Board Advisory Member and Task 

Force. Murrieta/Temecula Group 

Executive Board, Southwest Legislation 

Council Executive Board. Served 21 

years on the Boys & Girls Club Board, 

member of Professional Woman’s 

Roundtable, member of the Women’s 

Council of Realtors. 

Elected Offices: Served 22 years 

on the Temecula Valley Unified Board 

of Education, 14 years served on the 

Mount San Jacinto Community Board 

of Trustees. 

Awards include: The Joan F. 

Sparkman Elementary School in 1989, 

North county Woman of Merit, Woman 

of the Year State Assembly twice, 

Woman of the Year California State 

Senate, Athena Award for Business & 

Industry, Joan F. Sparkman Leadership 

Award founded by the Professional 

Woman’s Roundtable in 2002, Temecula 

Valley Chamber Citizen of the Year, Boy 

Scouts of America Distinguished of the 

Year, Wall of Honor in the Temecula 

Museum, American Bankers Award for 

Community Service, League of Women 

Voters Outstanding Volunteer Award, 

Outstanding Education Leadership 

Award from the Riverside 

County Office of Education 

2005, Lifetime Achievement 

Award from the Temecula Valley 

Chamber of Commerce. California 

Nurses Assn. awarded 

in 2014. 

The September meeting is 

Thursday, September 6th from 

11:15 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The cost 

to attend the luncheon meeting is 

$20.00 for members and $25.00 

for guests. 

Join PWR for our monthly lunch 

meeting. Registration begins at 11:15 

a.m. at 8bit Brewing Company, 26755 

Jefferson Ave., Ste. F in Murrieta. For 

more information visit our website www. 

pwronline.org. 

The Professional Women’s Roundtable 

(PWR) is a non-profit, 501c3, women’s 

organization dedicated to helping 

women succeed through mentoring by 

example, powerful speakers, educational 

workshops and, of course, networking. 

The Professional Women’s 

Roundtable invites all professional 

women and PWR members to attend 

the meetings every first Thursday 

of the month. For reservations and 

more information visit www.pwronline.org. 

Or, for more information, 

please contact: Annette LaRocque: 

951-300-6676.




5




Don’t Procrastinate! 

Learn to Be A Better 

Speaker Now! 

If you have always wanted 

to be a better speaker, better 

communicator and better leader, 

we are the club you need to 

be a member. 

The Next Level Toastmaster’s 

Club is a club where you will learn 

all of this in a friendly and fun environment! 

We are a new club that meets on 

every Thursday(except August 23 

and September 6)from 12:10- 1:10 

pm at 29995 Technology Drive, 

Suite 203, Murrieta 92563. 

We expect to charter the first 

week in October and are looking 

for 17-20 dedicated and committed 

people who will grow with us personally 

and professionally as the 

club grows! 

Come be our guest, and see 

what Toastmasters is all about. 

RSVP (951) 775-0615 or (951) 723- 

7691. 

Business Women’s Network Announces 

BWN’s September 11th meeting 

features member speakers Bonnie 

Clark, President of Kratos Financial and 

Insurance Solutions and Lorie Herick 

with Top Notch Auto Sales. Kratos is a 

Temecula-based Holistic Financial Services 

Company. Bonnie holds licenses 

in CA, AZ, NV, TX, IN, OH, OR, VA, 

MD and Fl. 

Top Notch Auto Sales is where your 

buying experience is our number one 

priority. We encourage you to use the 

expertise and resources of our sales staff 

who are here to help you find the right 

car at the right price. 

Visit http://retirement-planning-tools. 

com to watch some videos or call Bonnie 

to learn more. 

Business Website: Kratos Financial & 

Insurance Solutions 

Phone Number: 951-506-6193 

Business Website: https://www.tna.la/ 

Business Address: 28046 Del Rio Rd, 

Suite A, Temecula, CA 92590 

Phone Number: 951-694-4411 

BWN’s September 25th meeting 

will feature a hand-selected guest speaker 

whose knowledge and expertise will 

enhance your business’s strength and 

growth. 

NAFE Meeting in September 

to Feature Daniela Bumann 

Liberator and Corporate Consultant 

- Hi, I`m Daniela. I`m a liberator 

and I`m a Swiss entrepreneur with an 

adventurous positive spirit, dedicated 

to helping you become your BEST self. 

I`m an Author, CSL, international 

Speaker and DiSC Communications 

trainer, and I have been working as a 

certified Coach (among other certifications) 

since 1994. I have worked with 

companies and individuals internationally 

for nearly 25 years helping them 

to achieve true Confidence, Work-Life 

Balance, and get past limiting beliefs 

to live the life they Want and Deserve. 

I specialize in helping people 

“break free” identify and achieve their 

life goals by coping with the issues 

that are causing them distress, anxiety, 

and stress. I take great pride in the 

progress and success of my clients and 

look forward to helping you to be your 

BEST self. 

Daniela can be reached here - 

Daniela Bumann, CEO Corporate 

Consultant & Liberator Confidence 

for Success Programs & Retreats. 

www.VibrantLivingNow.org, info@ 

vibrantlivingnow.org 

Date: The September meeting is Tuesday 

Sept 4th at 6pm. 

Location: Texas Lil’s Mesquite Grill, 

28498 Old Town Front Street in Temecula 

Check out this video on the meeting 

and location - https://www.easywebvideo.com/52cfddc3 

Meeting Fee: $10.00 for Nafe members, 

$15.00 for guests, then you order 

whatever you want to eat and pay the 

restaurant direct. Meeting fees are paid to 

Robbie Motter, cash, check or credit card. 

Our mission is to help women grow 

personally and professionally, bring lots 

of business cards so you can network 

with other dynamic women like yourself. 

Great place to SHOW UP and ASK. 

Check out our website at wrnafe.com. 

Save the date of October 20th for 

our Global Society Female Entrepreneurs 

- a 501c3 & Nafe Soar to Greatness 

Women’s Conference at the Courtyard 

Marriott in Murrieta. It’s an all-day conference, 

continential breakfast, lunch, 

entertainment, networking and more. 

Check out the website athttps:// 

www.globalsocietyforfemaleentrepreneurs.org/soar-to-greatness-women-business-conference#BuyTickets. 

Cost is $100.00 a few vendor slots 

remain $150.00 includes conference ticket. 

As a member you can visit any of our 

11 SO CAL Nafe networks, every Nafe 

meeting has the opportunity to network 

and let others know what it is you do and 

to ASK for what it is you need and want. 

September Speakers 

About BWN - Since 1992 Business Women’s 

Network of Temecula Valley (BWN) 

has been a premier women’s networking 

group dedicated to the highest standards 

of professionalism and the exchange 

of business leads. Our structured, yet 

relaxed luncheon program provides 

members the time and place to introduce 

themselves, their products and services 

during each meeting. Membership 

includes group membership in the Murrieta 

Chamber of Commerce and the 

Temecula Chamber of Commerce. We 

are all about promoting ourselves and 

each other and building strategic relationships 

with other professional local 

women while having fun. We meet at 

noon on the second and fourth Tuesdays 

at The Broken Yolk Café at 26495 Ynez 

Rd, Temecula. Check us out at http:// 

business-womens-network-temecula. 

com/ 

Go to www.wrnafe.com to see 

where our other CA networks meet. 

Please RSVP to Robbie Motter rmotter@aol.com 

or 951-255-9200 

“The Power of Self-Esteem & 

Confidence!” Tools & Empowerment 

on HOW to RISE past limiting beliefs 

to achieve your life goals. Please come 

and join me and my co-director Shelly 

Ruffin at the Temecula Murrieta nafe 

meeting. Come and hear a great speaker, 

Daniela Bumann and tell us what 

you do and how we can help you and 

have a great meal. 


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For questions, comments, or story ideas, please 

e-mail publishertvbj@verizon.net or 

call (951) 461-0400. 

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www.HelenMRyan.com 

VP OF DISTRIBUTION 

Dane Wunderlich 

STAFF WRITERS/ 

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS 

Gene Wunderlich 

Ted Saul 

Helen M. Ryan 

Stefani Laszko 

Nicole Albrecht 

Julie Ngo 

Tracey Papke 

Tom Plant 

Esther Phahla 

Dr. Dennis Petersen 

Steve Amante 

Dr. Derek Albrecht 

Monique deGroot 

Andrea Shoup 

Gloria Wolnick 

Dr. Drake Levasheff, PhD 

Mort J. Grabel, Esq. 

John & Christine Hamby 

Heather Petersen 

Brian Connors 

Scott Chappell 

Tristin Collopy 

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS 

Cy Rathbun 

Todd Montgomery 

Tom Plant 

Pat Benter 

Criteria for Submitting Articles: 

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public relations feature for our advertisers, 

their articles will be given first priority. Other 

articles will be published on a space available 

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6. Article and advertising deadlines are the 15th 

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The Valley Business Journal is a California Corporation. 

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correction notice.




7 

6 Things You Ought to Know About California Homestead Law 

California’s “homestead “exemptions 

are super-heroes for Californians! 

While other exemptions protect items 

worth a thousand dollars here and 

there, the homestead protects $75,000 

for a single person and $100,000 for a 

couple. **For the elderly or disabled, 

the homestead balloons to $175,000. 

The homestead is powerful, but unfortunately 

not well understood. Here are six 

things you probably didn’t know about 

the homestead: 

I) Homestead is superior to a 

judgment creditor - Homestead protects 

homeowners from a particular kind 

of creditor- “the judgment creditor”. A 

judgment results from a lawsuit and 

determination you actually owe money 

to the plaintiff who brought the law 

suit. A judgment entitles the judgment 

creditor to use certain legal powers to 

collect that money. That right to collect 

money owed is limited by the judgment 

debtor’s homestead rights. The homestead 

exemption was designed to assure 

judgment debtors have a place to live; 

even if they owe the money. 

II) Homestead protection is not 

absolute - The California homestead 

does not guarantee you that a creditor 

can’t force a sale of your home to pay a 

debt. But, it guarantees that you get the 

dollar value of your homestead from 

the forced sale of your home before the 

creditor forcing the sale gets any money 

at all. A creditor who seeks to levy on 

a homestead must convince a sheriff or 

judge that any sheriff’s sale will return 

enough money to pay the homeowner 

the homestead first. The cost of making 

sure the homeowner gets their homestead 

protection first restrains judgment 

creditors from looking to home equity 

as a source of repayment. Frankly, it’s 

just too expensive with uncertain results 

in most cases. 

III) Homestead is no protection 

from foreclosure - California law 

allows you to pledge your homestead 

as collateral for a loan. So, when you 

encumber your home as part of the 

purchase transaction, or tap the equity 

through a HELOC or refinance, you give 

the lender the right to foreclose on your 

home without regard to your homestead. 

The law says a foreclosure that doesn’t 

pay you your homestead is OK, because 

the transaction that put your homestead 

at risk was voluntary. 

IV) Homestead exemptions come 

in two styles: - Own your home and you 

automatically have a homestead exemption. 

You don’t have to do anything to 

get certain protection of your equity 

from judicial creditors. CCP 704:710 

• The automatic homestead has the 

same monetary conditions the declared 

homestead. The automatic 

homestead only protects the home 

against a forced sale that wouldn’t 

yield enough proceeds to pay the 

homestead before paying the creditor. 

If you choose to sell your 

home and a creditor has recorded a 

judgment lien that attaches to your 

property, the judgment creditor gets 

paid from the sale before you get 

your homestead. 

• The declared homestead operates 

differently; the homestead amounts 

are the same, but the declared homestead 

protects exempt equity if 

you voluntarily sell your home. CCP 

704.910 The exempt proceeds remain 

protected for six months from 

the voluntary sale of the home. That 

6 month period is intended to provide 

a window in which you can reinvest 

the homestead in a replacement 

home. 

V) Either spouse can claim the 

entire exemption - When a married 

couple is entitled to a homestead, but 

the debt is an obligation of only one 

spouse, the debtor spouse can assert 

the entire homestead available to a 

married couple. When only one spouse 

files bankruptcy and only his half of 

a tenancy in common came into the 

bankruptcy estate, he could still claim 

the entire exemption available to a 

married man. IN RE:McFall: 112 B.R. 

336 (1990) DECIDED APRIL 10, 1990, 

Ninth Circuit 

VI) California homestead is 

powerless against the feds - Since 

the homestead is state law, it does not 

limit the collection powers of the IRS 

or other federal agencies; because the 

Supremacy Clause of the Constitution 

means federal law is superior to state 

law. The IRS has its own, much smaller 

set of exemptions for delinquent tax 

payers. Those exemptions aren’t much 

in protecting a California home. But in 

the real world, however the IRS seldom 

tries to force the sale of homes. Like 

most other creditors with a lien on real 

property, the IRS simply waits until 

the homeowner wants to sell or refinance. 

Either sale or refinance generally 

require that tax liens be paid before the 

transaction closes. 

Please note: The information provided 

herein is general and not be relied upon 

for your circumstance. 

For further information or if you have 

any legal questions please call the Law 

Offices of Morton J. Grabel, in Temecula 

at (951) 695-7700. Mort originally 

from Philadelphia, PA is a graduate 

from an ABA Law School, has an MBA, 

a California Nursing Home Administrator’s 

License & a California Real Estate 

Broker’s License [both active and in 

good standing]. 

LEGAL 

by 

Morton by J. Grabel, Esq. 

Steve Fillingim







9 

Preventing Falls in the Home - Be Aware 

of the Risk Factors that Can Cause Seniors 

to Fall 

One in four older Americans 

falls every year. Falls are the leading 

cause of injuries for seniors aged 65 

and older, so preventing falls can be 

vital to their overall health. 

According to the Centers for Disease 

Control and Prevention (CDC), 

one out of five falls causes a serious 

injury, such as broken bones, hip 

fractures or head injuries. And each 

year, at least 300,000 older people are 

hospitalized for hip fractures. 

If you have an aging parent or 

grandparent, helping them reduce 

their risk of falling can keep them 

safe, healthy and independent. There 

are ways of preventing falls in the 

home. First, you need to be aware of 

some of the risk factors that can lead 

to a fall, which include: 

Balance and Gait – As we age 

and become less active, we can lose 

some coordination, flexibility, and 

balance, which can cause instability. 

Vision – As we get older, less 

light reaches our retina, which makes 

contrasting edges, tripping hazards 

and other obstacles more difficult 

to see. 

Medications – Some prescriptions 

and over-the-counter medications 

can cause dizziness, dehydration 

or drowsiness, which can all 

lead to a fall. 

Environment – Seniors who 

have lived in their homes for a long 

time may not think about simple 

changes they can make to their space 

to keep it safer as they age. 

Now that you know the risks, 

here are 4 things you can do for preventing 

falls so that your loved one 

stays safe and that you have peace 

of mind. 

Monitor Their Balance - Is 

your older loved one unsteady on 

their feet? See if they’re holding 

onto walls, furniture or someone 

else when walking, or if they seem 

to have difficulty getting up from a 

chair. They may need help improving 

their balance, strength and gait. 

A cane, walker or other mobility aid 

might be the answer. But oftentimes 

light exercise and regular activity can 

improve overall stability. 

Discuss their Health Conditions 

- Is your older loved one having 

trouble managing their own health? 

Make sure they are remembering to 

take their medications, and ask if they 

are experiencing side effects from that 

medication. Are they having difficulty 

doing routine daily tasks or do they 

have other health concerns? If certain 

health issues are not addressed immediately, 

it could lead to more serious 

problems down the road. 

Take them for an Eye Exam - 

If your parent or grandparent wears 

glasses, do they have a current prescription? 

If not, it may be time for 

an eye exam. Also make sure they are 

using the glasses as directed by their 

eye doctor. Remember that sometimes 

tint-changing lenses can be hazardous 

when going from bright sunlight to the 

indoors. And bifocals can be problematic 

on stairs and other level changes 

in the home. 

Modify their Home 

There are many things you can do 

to make your loved one’s home safer 

so that they may age in place for a 

long time: 

• Pick up anything on the floor that 

they could trip over, including unnecessary 

clutter. 

• Consider moving anything that is 

plugged in to a different area of the 

home if the cords become a tripping 

hazard. 

• Add secure railings to both sides of 

stairs, inside and out. 

• Make sure their home has enough 

light by adding more or brighter 

light bulbs. 

• Add grab bars inside and outside 

the tub or shower, as well as next 

to the toilet. Also consider adding a 

shower chair or hand-held shower. 

At FirstLight, we help seniors 

enjoy the best quality of life for as 

long as possible. Contact FirstLight 

Home Care to learn more about our 

senior home care solutions that help 

keep your loved one safe, healthy and 

independent. 

If you’d like to learn more about our 

Senior Care Services give us a call at 

(951) 395-0821 or visit our website 

at www.temecula.firstlighthomecare. 

com. This article is provided by John 

and Christine Hamby, Owners, First- 

Light Home Care of Temecula.




Keeping Up with the Rate of Change 

About four years ago I wrote an 

article entitled “Change Planning or 

Planning to Change”. While still 

very applicable for today, one of 

the latest measurements is “Rate 

of Change” (ROC) which attempts 

to predict how new developments 

are affecting business models. As 

you can imagine technology is one 

focus area of Rate of Change, but it 

also includes marketing techniques, 

product development and even employee 

engagement. Rate of Change 

is constantly increasing evident by 

knowledge levels which are expected 

to double themselves every twelve 

hours thanks to the propagation and 

exponential growth of the internet 

fueled by Moore’s law that states 

computer processing speed will double 

every eighteen months. 

So, the saying “the only thing 

guaranteed not to change is that there 

will be change” still holds true. And 

if change was happening fast four 

years ago, imagine the ROC today. 

Are you a bit skeptic about all this? 

Consider these disruptors that have 

appeared in the last few years in some 

cases out of nowhere but because 

of demand; Snapchat, BuzzFeed, 

SpaceX, SurveyMonkey, DocuSign, 

Pinterest and AngelList. The list 

goes on and spans many types of 

industries. They were started from 

nothing or from existing companies 

by individuals with a finger on the 

pulse of change. As I had written 

four years ago, the key to dealing 

with change is preparing, planning 

and looking ahead. 

If you look back at your business 

and haven’t seen desired growth, there 

is a good chance there has been limited 

changes in your operations and it may 

be time to revisit these tips. Have 

contingency plans in place for a sudden 

downturn in sales as well as upticks 

that increase sales and floor traffic. 

Ask yourself how you can handle these 

variations differently and creatively. 

If you are understaffed can technology 

be used to fill the gaps? Are you 

taking advantage of new methods to 

engage suppliers and vendors to ensure 

product availability? How can costs 

be reduced? How quickly can policy 

changes be implemented when a new 

idea is presented? It is good practice 

to regularly think through any potential 

controllable or uncontrollable changes 

that may impact your business. Make 

it a goal to position your business as 

a leader and one that is flexible to 

meet the challenge of the changing 

world in which it operates. 

Ted Saul is a business coach that 

assists with Business Plans and Project 

Management. He holds a master 

certificate in project management 

and has earned his MBA from Regis 

University. Ted can be reached on 

LinkedIn, TedS787 on Twitter or 

emailing Ted@tsaul.com. 

by 

by 

Ted Saul, 

Steve Fillingim 

Sr. Staff Writer 

“ 

So, the saying “the only thing guaranteed not to 

change is that there will be change” still holds true




11 

Second Annual City of Temecula Emergency 

Management Summit: Partnering Agencies 

As part of the 2018 citywide 

theme, Temecula SAFE, the City of 

Temecula’s Emergency Management 

Division cordially invites the public to 

the City’s second annual Emergency 

Management Summit: Partnering 

Agencies. 

Event: Temecula Emergency Management 

Summit: Partnering Agencies 

Date/Time: Thursday, September 20, 

2018, 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. 

Location: City of Temecula City Hall, 

Conference Center, 41000 Main St., 

Temecula 

This will be an informative event 

with keynote speakers, panel discussions, 

exhibitions and vendors. Citizens 

and businesses are encouraged to 

learn and discuss what to do should a 

catastrophic event strike our community. 

Don’t wait until it’s too late. 

Topics include: 

• Shelters 

• Health Care 

• First Responders 

• Partnering Agencies such as School 

Districts, Nonprofits, Private, Public 

and Faith Based Organizations 

• Facilitated Lunch Panel Discussion 

Temecula Mayor Matt Rahn encourages 

residents and businesses to 

attend, and states, “Natural and manmade 

disasters are unpredictable, so 

the City of Temecula takes proactive 

measures to work with our partnering 

agencies to ensure our residents are 

informed and prepared.” Mayor Rahn 

added, “We also created a Special Edition 

Emergency Preparedness Newsletter, 

filled with useful information, 

that was hand delivered in June to all 

City of Temecula households inside 

of a ‘3-Minute Bag,’ which will be 

available to participants at this event.” 

This event is free to all who wish 

to participate. A free continental 

breakfast and lunch is also included. 

Seating is limited, so please register 

today at www.eventbrite.com 

For more information or questions, 

contact Robert Cardenas, Risk Manager 

at 951-693-3944.




Your Local Chambers 

Temecula Valley Chamber of Commerce 

www.temecula.org 

Murrieta/Wildomar Chamber of Commerce 

www.MWCoC.org 

Menifee Valley Chamber of Commerce 

www.menifeevalleychamber.com 

Lake Elsinore Valley Chamber 

www.lakeelsinorechamber.com 

Hemet/San Jacinto Valley 

Chamber of Commerce 

www.hsjvc.com 

See how the chambers can 

help your business. 

Temecula Tax Planner Earns Certified Tax 

Strategist Designation 

MONEY 

by 

Esther Phahla, 

CPA, CTC, MST 

They need a plan for 

taking advantage of 

every deduction, credit, 

loophole, and strategy 

allowed. 

Esther Phahla, CPA, announced 

July 26, 2018 that she is now a Certified 

Tax Strategist. This is the highest-level 

designation that started out as one of 

just under 700 tax professionals who 

has completed the American Institute for 

Certified Tax Planners training academy 

leading to the Certified Tax Coach designation. 

You start out as a Certified Tax 

Coach then you progress to other levels 

based on the tax planning engagements 

you have completed for your clients and 

additional course work throughout the 

years to keep up with changing tax laws. 

“Taxpayers who really want to beat 

the IRS and take a proactive approach 

on their taxes can’t wait for their accountant 

to work magic with a stack 

of receipts on April 15,” says Phahla, 

“They need a plan for taking advantage 

of every deduction, credit, loophole, and 

strategy allowed.” 

“Traditional tax professionals focus 

on putting the right numbers in the 

right boxes on the right forms,” says 

Dominique Molina, a San Diego-based 

CPA and Director of the American Institute 

for Certified Tax Planners. “Our 

program is different,” she continues. 

“We don’t just help our client’s record 

history. We help them write it, with a 

complete menu of advanced tax-planning 

concepts and strategies.” 

The American Institute for Certified 

Tax Planners program focuses on 

court-tested, IRS-approved strategies 

for minimizing Alternative Minimum 

Tax, maximizing deductions from real 

estate and passive activities, maximizing 

retirement savings, and similarly 

powerful strategies. As taxes rise to 

cover increased government spending, 

this sort of proactive planning will become 

even more important in the future. 

To earn the designation Esther 

Phahla completed an intense training 

program. She has also agreed to abide by 

the AICTP Code of Ethics and complete 

24 hours of tax-planning continuing 

education each year. What led Esther 

Phahla to qualify for this highest designation 

is clients like Gwen and Philip. 

Gwen works as a medical doctor who 

was paid as an Independent Contractor 

by the hospital she is contracted to. 

Every year she filed her Schedule C 

and took all the available deductions 

and paid her hefty quarterly estimates 

and a huge tax bill until they met with 

Phahla to discuss missed opportunities 

based on the entity structure she was 

operating under. Phahla compared different 

entity structures looked at what’s 

available based on Gwen’s profession. 

Similar to Gwen’s medical profession, 

she diagnosed the problem, prescribed 

the solution and filled the prescription 

(Implementation of a better entity structure 

and deductions that would benefit 

Gwen not just one year but many years 

to come). This resulted in Gwen saving 

over $37,000 in tax liability and allowed 

Gwen and Philip to have some left-over 

cash to put down payment for their 

dream home. 

With the passage of the tax reform 

Gwen came in again for her quarterly 

tax review to evaluate if the entity 

structure she chose a few years ago 

was still a better choice for her. As you 

all know starting in 2018 corporations 

can enjoy a flat 21% tax rate, while 

passthrough entities (sole proprietors, 

LLCs, S corporations, and partnerships) 

were afforded a special deduction of up 

to 20% qualified business income but 

it’s not a straight forward deduction as 

you have to follow a sequence of steps 

to check if the taxpayer does qualify. 

After deeper analysis, we realized that 

the there is additional work that needs 

to be done since Gwen falls under the 

personal service business definition 

(medical professionals, law, accounting, 

consulting). We made a few changes to 

make sure that Gwen still enjoys the tax 

savings and give her peace of mind to 

enjoy her profession and trusted us with 

her ongoing business needs. 

Is it time to rethink your entity 

structure? The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act 

of 2017 has presented many new opportunities. 

You might be missing out 

if you don’t explore your options. Want 

to find out if you are in the optimal entity 

considering tax reform? Contact us for 

a complimentary 30-minute session. 

Esther Phahla is a Certified Public 

Accountant and Certified Tax Strategist 

in Temecula. She also holds a Master’s 

of Science in Taxation. She is the 

Best-Selling Author of a Tax Planning 

book “Why Didn’t My CPA Tell Me 

That”. She is also the author of “10 

Most Expensive Tax Mistakes That Cost 

Business Owners Thousands”. Esther is 

passionate about proactive tax planning 

being the key to reducing taxes. She has 

spent hundreds of hours of continuing 

education to ensure she provides the 

best solutions for her clients. Over 

the years Esther has helped hundreds 

of business owners save thousands in 

tax savings. She has given seminars on 

proactive tax planning as well as written 

a number of articles on the topic. She 

can be reached at (951) 514-2652 or 

visit www.estherphahlacpa.com.




13 

The City of Temecula Proudly Presents 

Temecula SAFE on Saturday, October 20th 

Temecula has consistently been ranked as one of the safest cities in America. 

Learn what makes our community so safe by attending this free public safety event 

entitled Temecula SAFE on Saturday, October 20, 2018 from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm 

at Town Square Park in Old Town Temecula (41000 Main Street). 

Temecula Mayor Matt Rahn stated, “The City’s 2018 theme, Temecula SAFE, 

presents a great opportunity for the city to host an event where families, including 

kids of all ages, can meet Temecula police officers and firefighters, take photos, 

and learn about the important job they undertake daily to keep Temecula safe.” 

Festivities will include a Kids Fun area, emergency response informational 

booths and demonstrations, and food trucks serving delicious treats. The Temecula 

Education Foundation is partnering with the city for the Touch a Truck portion of 

the event including a special No Noise Sixty Minutes, from 9:00 am to 10:00 am, 

geared toward children who have adverse reactions to loud sudden noises. You 

will not want to miss this incredible chance to meet our everyday local heroes. 

For more information, please contact the Community Services Department 

at (951) 694-6480.




DMV Wait is So Long 

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 

DMV officials blame the longer 

wait times on the implementation of 

the federal REAL ID Act. This law requires 

all residents who want to board 

any commercial flight or enter military 

bases and most federal facilities to get a 

REAL ID-compliant driver’s license or 

identification card by October 1, 2020. 

To handle the extra processing 

work of implementing the new ID cards 

at DMV offices, California’s Legislature 

allocated an extra $23 million to the 

DMV in the 2017-18 FY budget. Those 

additional millions of dollars came with 

the promise of hiring 218 more workers, 

extending office hours from 9 a.m. to 7 

p.m., Monday through Friday, and to 

open 60 field offices from 9 a.m. to 5 

p.m. on Saturdays. 

As with many government programs, 

promises made are far less often 

promises kept. 

DMV offices continue to close at 

5 p.m. instead of staying open until the 

promised 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. 

Saturday hours have been limited 

to just 40 field offices that are open from 

8 a.m. to 1 p.m. only twice a month. 

The DMV’s answer to the problem? 

More money. 

The DMV has already received 

an increase of 550 positions and $46 

million in this year’s budget. It is expected 

to ask for nearly 2,000 additional 

positions and $151 million more to 

handle REAL-ID workload over the 

next four years. All of this is on top of 

the annual operating budget it already 

receives. Add it all up and the DMV 

says it needs more than $220 million 

over six years to implement the Real 

ID Act. 

The sad truth about this entire DMV 

fiasco is that it didn’t have to be this 

way. The REAL ID Act was enacted 

in 2005 with plans for the Department 

of Homeland Security to approve each 

state’s enforcement plan by 2013. The 

DMV has had eight years to prepare for 

the act’s deadline. California Governor 

Jerry Brown’s administration still has 

requested an extension of several years, 

yet the DMV has been given tens of 

millions of dollars for the Real ID implementation. 

Before giving the DMV one more 

dollar, California residents deserve to 

know what the heck has happened to the 

many tens of millions of dollars already 

provided for the new staff, new offices 

and extended hours. 

It’s past time for these tortuous lines 

to stop. California residents should 

never have to wait for hours outside the 

DMV office in 100-plus degree heat just 

to see a DMV employee to upgrade their 

government-mandated ID. The only 

way to ensure promises made are promises 

kept and get this broken process 

fixed is to audit the DMV immediately. 

Californians deserve better. 

Jeff Stone represents California’s 

28th Senate District. The district, which 

is entirely in Riverside County, stretches 

from the vineyards of the Temecula Valley 

to the Colorado River and includes 

the cities of Blythe, Canyon Lake, 

Cathedral City, Coachella, Desert Hot 

Springs, Indian Wells, Indio, Lake Elsinore, 

La Quinta, Murrieta, Temecula, 

Palm Desert, Palm Springs, Rancho 

Mirage and Wildomar. 

For more information visit: www.Senate.ca.gov/Stone 

or on Facebook at 

www.facebook.com/SenatorJeffStone. 

“ 

It’s past time for these tortuous lines 

to stop. California residents should 

never have to wait for hours outside 

the DMV office in 100-plus degree 

heat just to see a DMV employee to 

upgrade their governmentmandated 

ID


“Understanding Your Data Usage for 

Companies like Google, Facebook” 

TECHNOLOGY 

by 

by 

Tristan 


Collopy 

Recent news regarding Facebook’s 

usage of customer data, such as selling 

to firms like Cambridge Analytica, has 

placed ‘big data’ at the forefront of 

many people’s minds. For the business 

owner, understanding what a vendor is 

doing with your data is of pre-eminent 

importance. 

The aphorism amongst technical 

people regarding companies like Facebook 

is that “if the service is free, YOU 

are the product.” Indeed, many people 

in the Information Technology field 

seemed somewhat perplexed at the 

outrage Facebook faced when it became 

clear that they were selling the data they 

collected on users of their services to 

data analytics firms. This is because 

treatment of data in this way is not the 

exception—it is the business model. 

The first encounter many people 

would have with this type of business 

model is the usage of free email account 

services, like Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, 

etc. I think that anyone would agree that 

the Googles and Microsofts of the world 

are not running charities. Why then do 

they provide email services at no cost 

to consumers? Surely there is hard cost 

associated with providing these services. 

Indeed, the backend infrastructure 

needed to accommodate email services 

for even a small-to-medium businesses 

can be substantial; the cost of providing 

a similar service to millions of users is 

substantial. The question then becomes, 

why do these companies do it? If it is 

not out of the goodness of their hearts, 

so to speak, there must be something in 

it for them. There is of course, and it is 

the data they are able to collect from the 

emails the users of these services send 

and receive. 

At first glance this might seem scary, 

but in the case of free email services the 

use case is relatively innocuous, though 

potentially aggravating—targeted ads. 



Providers of free email services use 

sophisticated algorithms to search for 

keywords within the subjects and bodies 

of email messages. These keywords 

are then used to serve you targeted ads 

advertising products or services that 

the algorithm ‘decides’ you might be 

interested in. In fact, this is how much of 

the advertisement you encounter online 

is generated. 

Facebook is the scaled up version of 

this model. Using the information that 

users essentially ‘turn over’ about themselves, 

they serve those users both content 

that they might be interested in, and 

targeted advertisements. As you might 

imagine, data analytics of this nature 

are can be put to even more powerful 

use for things like political campaigns, 

crime statistics and prediction, and any 

number of other ‘big data’ uses. 

The next question you might be 

asking yourself is how this could have 

happened, thinking that you don’t remember 

giving Facebook consent to 

use your data. This part of the Facebook 

saga will likely be further litigated, but 

the position of Facebook, and other 

firms that provide similar services, is 

that by agreeing to their Terms and 

Conditions, often called the EULA or 

End User License Agreement, you DID 

in fact consent to their use of your data, 

often in whatever way they see fit. 

What does all this mean for the 

business owner? As with any contract, 

it is important to review the terms of the 

EULA to be certain you are comfortable 

with the provisions contained within the 

license agreement. Oftentimes this can 

be a daunting task, as the agreement 

itself will run to many tens if not hundreds 

of pages. Oftentimes, however, up 

to date summaries and breakdowns of 

the agreements themselves can be found 

online. Be confident of the manner in 

which your data is to be used, where it 

is to be stored, and who will have access 

to view it. And remember nothing 

is truly free. 

Mythos Technology is an IT consulting 

and management firm that provides 

Managed Services including hosted 

cloud solutions. For more information, 

please visit www.mythostech.com or call 

(951) 813-2672. 

15 

Support your local nonprofits. 

They need your skills, your ideas and 

your support.




What is the Effect of Marital 

Separation on Your Estate Plan? 

Water, Flood, Fire, Smoke, Mold Damage? 

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We will get you through this. 

The most trusted Restoration company in 

the Temecula valley since 1989 

It is generally understood that 

when couples divorce they will also 

be changing their estate plan to reflect 

the divorce, as well as to accommodate 

new spouses or children. However, in 

California, spouses have the option 

of a legal separation, which preserves 

some inheritance rights for the surviving 

spouse, as well as any fiduciary 

responsibilities. 

Legally separated spouses are considered 

to be still married but living 

their lives separately. There may be 

a number of reasons to do this such as 

children or business interests, and it 

does affect the estate plan and inheritance 

rights. 

(Please note that simply moving 

out of a shared home will not automatically 

equal a legal separation for 

estate planning purposes. It is best to 

have a separation agreement drafted 

to confirm your intention to separate.) 

Property Rights 

If the separation agreement between 

the spouses terminated property 

rights, then a spouse cannot inherit 

through intestacy (no will or trust). 

However, if the spouse is named as a 

joint owner or beneficiary of an account 

or life insurance policy, they can still 

inherit the assets in the account. 

Beneficiary Rights 

The separated surviving spouse 

will still maintain their right to inherit 

if they are named as a beneficiary in 

a will or trust. For this reason, if it is 

important for your spouse to inherit 

assets, a will or trust must be drafted 

with specific gifts to that spouse. In 

contrast, a divorced spouse named as 

beneficiary in a trust or will created 

before the divorce generally will not 

be a valid beneficiary. 

Fiduciary Roles 

Similarly, if the spouse is named as 

a trustee, executor or power of attorney, 

they can still fill that role. Because a 

legal separation prevents the spouses 

from remarrying, they may still be 

the best and most trusted party to fill 

the role. This is quite different from 

divorce, where those fiduciary nominations 

are automatically revoked. 

Estate Planning for Separated 

Couples 

Given these points, it is crucial 

for separating spouses to revisit their 

estate plan and assets, to make sure 

that their intentions are carried out. If 

they remain supportive of one another 

and on friendly terms, then they may 

wish to maintain asset distributions to 

their spouse, while still taking care of 

other heirs. 

In any case, if you are contemplating 

a legal separation you should 

consult with an estate planning attorney 

to make sure that your assets and roles 

are structured correctly. 

Please contact the attorneys at Shoup 

Legal, www.ShoupLegal.com or 951- 

445-4114 with your questions about 

legal separation and estate planning. 

LEGAL 

by by 

Andrea Steve Fillingim Shoup 

Family Owned & Operated 

100% Background Checked Team 

24/7/365 Emergency Service 

Fully Licensed, Bonded and Certified 

Insurance Approved and Preferred 

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“ 

Legally separated spouses are 

considered to be still married but living 

their lives separately. There may 

be a number of reasons to do this 

such as children or business 

interests, and it does affect the 

estate plan and inheritance rights. 

New hires? Awards? Promotions? 

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17 

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18 www.TheValleyBusinessJournal.com 


Azusa Pacific University Murrieta Regional 

Campus Hosts September 27th Preview Night 

Are you considering going back to 

school to complete your degree? Do you 

want to advance your career and are looking 

to pursue a graduate degree? If you 

find yourself asking these questions, we 

would like to invite you to Azusa Pacific 

University’s (APU) Murrieta Regional 

Campus Preview Night. This free event 

will be held on Thursday, September 27, 

2018, from 5:30 pm – 8:00 pm at 40508 

Murrieta Hot Springs Road, Murrieta. 

In addition, a Financial Aid Workshop 

will be offered at 4:30 pm to prospective 

students looking to learn how to maximize 

financial aid and scholarship opportunities. 

The goal of this workshop is to help 

the student understand the steps necessary 

to be financially ready to attend APU. 

Designed for adult students, APU 

Preview Night gives you an opportunity 

to meet faculty and staff, learn about academic 

programs, the admission process, 

financial assistance, and career opportunities 

within the following graduate and 

degree completions programs offered at 

the Murrieta Regional Campus: 

• Teacher Education: Master’s Degrees 

& Credentials 

• School Counseling & Psychology: 

Master’s Degrees 

• Business:Bachelor & Master’s Degrees 

• Psychology: Bachelor’s Degree 

• Criminal Justice: Bachelor’s Degree 

• Communications & Digital Media: 

Bachelor’s Degree (Coming in 2019) 

Preview Night will also include a 

complimentary dinner, raffle prizes, and 

campus tours. The application fee will 

be waived for all attendees who apply for 

a program! 

Azusa Pacific University is a military-friendly 

college committed to honoring 

those who serve our country by 

making a quality education for military 

members, veterans, and their families an 

affordable reality. A representative from 

APU’s Military & Veteran Services will 

be on hand to talk about how the students 

may use their military benefits. APU 

proudly participates in the Yellow Ribbon 

Program. 

APU is a leading Christian university 

and is recognized annually among the 

nation’s best colleges by U.S. News & 

World Report and The Princeton Review. 

The APU Murrieta Regional Campus is 

proud to be a part of Southwest Riverside 

County for over 30 years. 

The September 27th “APU Preview 

Night” is for adults and their guests (age 

18+). If you have questions or would like 

to RSVP, please call (951) 304-3400 or 

email: murrieta@apu.edu. To learn more 

about APU and these programs visit apu. 

edu/Murrieta. 

Leading in Jesus’ Wayabout Leadership 

EDUCATION 

by 

by 

Drake Levasheff, PhD. 


The new academic year has begun, 

and with it we have experienced a flurry 

of activity. Students are returning to 

campus. Faculty are in the classroom, 

charged for a new year. It’s so invigorating! 

I am savoring this season with its 

passion and hope. And I recognize that 

once it gives way, I will return to the same 

space all leaders occupy: basic, un-sexy, 

practical reality. With that, countless 

questions will be brought to me: Why 

isn’t this technology working the way it 

should? When will the new office spaces 

be available? Do we have the students 

we need for our next class start? The 

voices will rise, the pace will accelerate, 

and adrenaline will kick in. We will need 

to move forward. Instinctually, I am 

preparing myself to put my head down 

and grind until commencement next year. 

The risk, of course, is that I get 

rolling and end up in the wrong place 

when the year ends. If I’m not deliberate 

about where I am going and what I want 

to accomplish, I could waste energy and 

stray far from course. So, I need to know 

my direction and stay on course. How my 

going to do that? 

Some may consider this surprising, 

but Jesus of Nazareth shows me the 

way. Sure, he lived in a different time: 

society had a different place and slower 

rhythms. Jesus’ world was not propelled 

by technology to a breakneck pace. But 

the stories about him make clear that 

he carried a heavy leadership burden. 

Large crowds followed him. Opponents 

schemed against him. Political intrigue 

threatened him. And trusted friends 

betrayed him. 

In the midst of all that was going 

around him, Jesus understood what he 

was about and what he was supposed to 

do. The stories about him tell us that the 

appeals of trusted friends, the demands 

of the hungry crowd, and the intrigues 

of enemies could not keep him from his 

task. The Gospel of Luke says he “set his 

face like flint toward Jerusalem” (9:51); 

a maelstrom formed before him, but it 

would not deter him from when he was 

called to do. 

What allowed him to stay on course? 

Luke again provides a hint regarding 

what was going on: it says that Jesus 

would often withdraw to the lonely places 

to pray (5:16). Indeed, Luke recounts 

numerous situations in which Jesus 

withdrew to get direction when he had 

to make important decisions. 

I take Jesus’ example the heart. 

I’ve spent my share of time before the 

academic year started alone, clarifying 

what is most important and what I need 

to do this year. I’ve also scheduled breaks 

that will allow me to withdraw, reflect, 

and pray--so that I may make course 

corrections if necessary. 

How will it end? I may not go as far 

as fast. But I have hope that I will reach 

my goal as I lead in Jesus’ way. 

Dr. Drake Levasheff is Senior Director 

of Azusa Pacific University’s Murrieta 

Regional Campus. He can be reached 

via email at dlevasheff@apu.edu. 

Azusa Pacific University and KATY 101.3 

Announce 2018-19 Teachers are Heroes Program 

Azusa Pacific University (APU) 

and KATY, the Mix, and are proud to 

announce the kick-off for the 2018-2019 

Teachers are Heroes program. For the last 

five years, the APU Murrieta Regional 

Campus and KATY 101.3, The Mix, have 

partnered to honor local teachers who 

have dedicated themselves to serving and 

shaping our youth. Teachers are Heroes 

will begin on September 1st and will run 

through the last week of April 2019. 

Each month, KATY and APU will 

recognize a teacher who personifies 

dedication to their students. Each 

honoree will win great prizes from The 

Mix Prize Closet, a $100 Visa Gift Card 

from Think Wise Credit Union plus the 

entire class will receive a pizza party 

from The Pizza Factory in Temecula. 

At the conclusion of the school year, all 

selected teachers and their classes will 

be invited to attend an end of the year 

celebration ceremony! 

In celebration of the impact educators 

have in our schools, districts, 

and neighborhoods, we invite you to 

nominate the teacher-hero in your life. 

Teachers from the Southwest Riverside 

County, and nearby areas, may be nominated 

by students, parents, grandparents, 

and even other school administrators. 

For more information or to fill out the 

entry form go to www.1013themix.com 

or www.apu.edu/murrieta/teachers/


Protect Your Eyes from UV 

Healthy 

Living 

by 

Tina Dr. Patrick M. Gottlieb, Utnehmer D.C. 

What a great community we live in 

here in sunny southern California. The 

sun supports life on our planet, but its 

life-giving rays also pose dangers. The 

sun’s primary danger is in the form of 

ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Artificial 

sources, like welding machines, tanning 

beds and lasers, can also produce 

UV radiation. 

Most people are aware of how 

harmful UV radiation is to the skin. 

However, many may not realize that 

UV radiation can harm the eyes, and 

other components of solar radiation 

can also affect vision. There are three 

types of UV radiation. UV-C is absorbed 

by the ozone layer and does 

not present any threat. However, UV-A 

and UV-B radiation can have long- and 

short-term negative effects on the eyes 

and vision. 

If your eyes are exposed to excessive 

amounts of UV radiation over a 

short period of time, you will likely 

experience photokeratitis. Like a “sunburn 

of the eye,” photokeratitis can 

be painful. Its symptoms include red 

eyes, a foreign body sensation or gritty 

feeling in the eyes, extreme sensitivity 

to light and excessive tearing. Fortunately, 

these symptoms are usually 

temporary and rarely cause permanent 

damage to the eyes. 

The longer the eyes are exposed to 

solar radiation, the greater the risk of 

developing cataracts or macular degeneration 

later in life. It is not clear how 

much exposure to solar radiation will 

cause damage. Therefore, whenever 

you spend time outdoors, wear quality 

sunglasses that offer UV protection and 

a hat or cap with a wide brim. Also, 

certain contact lenses can provide 

additional UV protection. 

To provide adequate protection for 

your eyes, sunglasses should: 

• Block out 99 to 100 percent of both 

UV-A and UV-B radiation; 

• Screen out 75 to 90 percent of visible 

light; 



• Have lenses that are perfectly 

matched in color and free of distortion 

and imperfection; 

• Have lenses that are gray for proper 

color recognition. 

If you participate in potentially 

eye-hazardous outdoor work or sports, 

your sunglass lenses should be made 

from polycarbonate or Trivex® material. 

These lenses provide the most 

impact resistance. 

If you spend a lot of time outdoors 

in bright sunlight, consider wearing 

wraparound frames for additional 

protection from the harmful solar 

radiation. Don’t forget protection for 

children and teenagers. They typically 

spend more time in the sun than adults. 

Protecting Your Eyes from Shorter-Wavelength 

Visible Light - Chronic 

exposure to shorter-wavelength visible 

light (blue and violet light) may also 

be harmful to the retina. Many digital 

devices emit this shorter-wavelength 

visible light. 

Blue light is part of the visible light 

spectrum. The sun emits blue light, 

as do artificial light sources, such as 

LEDs, computers and smartphones. 

Some types of blue light can be beneficial, 

helping us regulate our bodies’ 

internal biological clocks. 

However, blue-violet light can be 

harmful to the eyes, specifically the 

retina. It is a risk factor for the onset 

of age-related macular degeneration, 

a deterioration of the part of the retina 

responsible for sharp, central vision. 

A recent study found that Americans 

spend almost 2 ½ hours on their 

tablets and smartphones every day. In 

addition, most offices and stores use 

fluorescent light bulbs, and LED lights 

are becoming increasingly popular. 

Lenses that absorb harmful blue 

light but allow beneficial blue light 

through your lenses are entering the 

marketplace. You could also apply 

a special clear coating to traditional 

lenses to enhance their ability to block 

these harmful rays while you use computers 

and smartphones. 

We would be happy to see you 

for an exam to discuss personalized 

options to protect your eyes. 

Dr. Patrick Utnehmer, Promenade 

Optometry & Lasik, (951) 296-2211. 

Send us your news! 

publishertvbj@verizon.net 

19




Rancho Springs NICU Wins Top Award 

Rady Children’s Level II Neonatal 

Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Rancho 

Springs Medical Center received the 

Top Performer Award from Professional 

Research Consultants, Inc. (PRC) for 

Overall Quality of Care, recognizing the 

achievement of 100 percent in patient 

satisfaction scores. 

These nationally recognized awards 

are presented to organizations who have 

achieved excellence throughout the prior 

year. Kristen Johnson, Chief Nursing 

Officer for Rancho Springs Medical 

Center (a campus of Southwest Healthcare 

System), stated, “We are proud of 

our commitment to a higher quality of 

care that we strive for each and every 

day here at the Family Birth Center at 

Rancho Springs. The accolades we have 

received from the professional healthcare 

community is evident that our staff, our 

nurses and our physicians are among the 

best in their field.” 

Alison Decker, a mom who recently 

delivered at the Family Birth Center at 

Rancho Springs Medical Center, said this 

about her experience: “Right away the 

nurse introduced herself and we were always 

in the know. It is important to have 

that relationship and trust the nurse that 

is taking care of you. I felt that trust and 

was comfortable in every way. I would 

recommend Rancho Springs 110 percent 

without any reservation. Rancho Springs 

gave me a five-star experience.” 

The Family Birth Center at Rancho 

Springs also features: 

• The largest birthing center in the 

region 

• The highest Level II NICU in the 

region — Rady Children’s 

• OB hospitalists on-site 24/7 

• 4/7 OB emergency department 

• Complete couplet care 

• All private suites 

The Family Birth Center at Rancho 

Springs leads the way in developing 

quality of care initiatives for expectant 

moms in Southwest Riverside County. It 

is one of the most decorated and awarded 

birthing centers in the region. 

• Awarded Blue Cross Blue Shield Distinction 

for expertise specialty care in 

maternity services 

• Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego 

named top five in the nation by 

U.S. World and News Report for 

2017/2018 

• Awarded the International Board of 

Lactation Consultant and Examiners 

excellence in lactation care for the 

second consecutive time 

The Foundation for Senior Care Fall Benefit the “Big Show 

10,000, that’s the number of people 

each day in the US that reach 65 

and attain Senior Citizen status. While 

today’s newest senior may not be the 

stereotypical elderly person who’s 

retired, infirmed, or inactive, there are 

still new needs and concerns facing this 

aging cohort. We are in the middle of 

the largest aging population boom ever 

seen, and like they have always done 

the “boomers” (those born from 1946 – 

1964) are setting new trends in aging in 

place, need for caregiving services, and 

end of life care. But under this shadow is 

another concern, the number of seniors 

that are already over 65 is already more 

than our safety net services can support. 

2010 Census data reports that of the over 

308 million seniors in this county 32% 

were over the age of 75! 

The “Silent Generation”, those 

born between 1925 to 1945 is currently 

consuming more resources that they or 

our public support systems ever planned 

for (Social Security began in 1937 and 

Medicare was implemented in 1965). 

What happens when this new wave, the 

“Silver Tsunami” of seniors collides with 

the existing pool of seniors from the Silent 

Generation? There are not enough 

dedicated resources for seniors to cover 

the expense of in-home care, affordable 

communal or skilled residential care, 

or even medical management for those 

expected to develop Alzheimer’s disease 

or other dementias. 

The Elephant in the Room is that 

the individual or family is expected to 

assume the costs of caring for today’s 

elderly. While the reality is that families 

are underprepared to care for the current 

and ever rising “Silver Tsunami”. 

Social Security, retirement savings, and 

other assets are not what they once were. 

Consider that a moderate residential care 

home in Southern California runs at least 

$3,000 a month and Social Security benefits 

averages around $30,000 a year. That 

means a senior who needs residential care 

(with little medical assistance) will spend 

at least $36,000 a year. 

Medicare and other government 

programs provide little to no support for 

residential care (custodial care). Sure, 

people may have their homes or other 

resources, but the reality is that there 

are already a huge number of seniors 

with little to no family, few cash-liquid 

resources, and or a plan on how to handle 

the challenges of aging. That’s why the 

Foundation for Senior Care is expanding 

its Transportation and Care Advocate 

services beyond Fallbrook and into 

Temecula. We provide Care Advocacy 

and service navigation for seniors and 

families dealing with repeated hospitalizations, 

loss of the ability to drive, and 

aging in place situations. 

The Foundation for Senior Care 

has quietly been serving the Fallbrook 

community since 1979 when we were 

created to support the rural Fallbrook 

hospital. Today our mission is to provide 

programs and resources enabling 

seniors to enhance their well-being and 

give them a more meaningful life. The 

Foundation for Senior Care is a 501(c) 

(3) non-profit organization that serves 

the needs of seniors through our Senior 

Care Advocacy services, Adult Day Care 

services at “The Club”, Transportation 

and a Computer Learning Center. The 

Foundation depends on business and individual 

donors to provide these essential 

services to the community. Our annual 

Fall Benefit will be held on October 27th 

at the Vineyard at 1924 in Fallbrook. This 

vintage circus themed event will feature 

lively auctions and carnival games; it’s 

not your regular rubber chicken dinner 

fundraising event it’s the “Big Show”. 

The Foundation for Senior Care is 

located at 135 S. Mission Rd. in Fallbrook, 

CA. and can be reached at (760) 

723-7570 - online at www.foundationforseniorcare.org. 

We’re addressing that 

Elephant in the Room and are working 

to patch together a safety net for each 

senior, so they can age safely and with 

respect. We hope you’ll join our cause 

and lend your strength. 

Rachel Mason, MS., MA is the Executive 

Director.




Temecula Valley Hospital 

Receives ‘Get with The Guidelines - 

Stroke Gold Plus Quality 

Achievement Award’ 

21 

American Heart Association Award recognizes Temecula Valley 

Hospital’s commitment to quality stroke care 

Temecula Valley Hospital has received 

the American Heart Association/ 

American Stroke Association’s Get 

with The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold 

Plus Quality Achievement Award. 

The award recognizes the hospital’s 

commitment to ensuring stroke patients 

receive the most appropriate treatment 

according to nationally recognized, 

research-based guidelines based on the 

latest scientific evidence. This is the 

second year in a row the hospital has 

achieved this honor. 

Temecula Valley Hospital earned 

the award by meeting specific quality 

achievement measures for the diagnosis 

and treatment of stroke patients 

at a set level for a designated period. 

These measures include evaluation of 

the proper use of medications and other 

stroke treatments aligned with the most 

up-to-date, evidence-based guidelines 

with the goal of speeding recovery 

and reducing death and disability for 

stroke patients. Before discharge, patients 

should also receive education on 

managing their health, get a follow-up 

visit scheduled, as well as other care 

transition interventions. 

“Temecula Valley Hospital is dedicated 

to improving the quality of care 

for our stroke patients by implementing 

the American Heart Association’s Get 

with The Guidelines-Stroke initiative,” 

said Darlene Wetton, CEO of 

Temecula Valley Hospital. “The tools 

and resources provided help us track 

and measure our success in meeting 

evidenced-based clinical guidelines developed 

to improve patient outcomes.” 

“We are pleased to recognize 

Temecula Valley Hospital for their 

commitment to stroke care,” said Eric 

E. Smith, M.D., national chairman of 

the Get with The Guidelines Steering 

Committee and an associate professor 

of neurology at the University of Calgary 

in Alberta, Canada. “Research 

has shown that hospitals adhering to 

clinical measures through the Get with 

The Guidelines quality improvement 

initiative can often see fewer readmissions 

and lower mortality rates.” 

According to the American 

Heart Association/American Stroke 

Association, stroke is the No. 5 cause of 

death and a leading cause of adult disability 

in the United States. On average, 

someone in the U.S. suffers a stroke 

every 40 seconds and nearly 795,000 

people suffer a new or recurrent stroke 

each year. 

About Temecula Valley Hospital - 

Temecula Valley Hospital brings 

advanced technology, innovative 

programs, patient centered and family 

sensitive care to area residents. The 

hospital features 140 private patient 

rooms; emergency care featuring ER 

Reserve; advanced cardiac and stroke 

care; orthopedics; and general and 

surgical specialties. TVH is nationally 

recognized for Patient Safety by 

The Leapfrog Group, with a 2017 Top 

Hospital Award and 4 consecutive “A” 

Grades for Patient Safety in Spring 

2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017 and 

Fall 2016. The hospital also recently 

received a 4 Star Medicare Hospital 

Compare Rating, the honor of the 

Inland Empire’s Top Workplaces 2017 

and has been designated an Aetna 

Institute of Quality® Cardiac Care 

Facility for comprehensive heart and 

vascular treatment-including Cardiac 

Medical Intervention and Cardiac 

Rhythm programs. For more information, 

visit www.temeculavalleyhospital. 

com 

About Get with The Guidelines® - Get 

with The Guidelines® is the American 

Heart Association/American Stroke 

Association’s hospital-based quality 

improvement program that provides 

hospitals with tools and resources to 

increase adherence to the latest research-based 

guidelines. Developed 

with the goal of saving lives and hastening 

recovery, Get with The Guidelines 

has touched the lives of more than 

6 million patients since 2001. For more 

information, visit heart.org.




Collagen: The Fountain of Youth 

Healthy 

Living 

by 

Tina Monique M. Gottlieb, deGroot D.C. 

Collagen loss. It’s the sneaky part of 

aging that makes the biggest difference, 

inside and out. We hear the word “collagen” 

and immediately think of baby’s 

skin. Not only does it give skin that 

gorgeous bounce, but did you know that 

collagen is one of the body’s strongest 

proteins? It’s found in skin and nails, 

but also in our hair, tendons, and joints. 

It’s what holds us together and keeps us 

looking youthful! 

Noticing that your skin has lost its 

elasticity? Over time, our bodies produce 

less collagen. This is from the natural 

aging process. Collagen loss affects 

anything from joint pain to wrinkles… 

not fun. However, avoiding tobacco and 

sun exposure while keeping a healthy 

diet and getting your body moving are 

what can help reduce the decline of collagen. 

But what else can we do? 

Good news! We can turn to products 

to help kick start the amount of collagen 

our bodies produce. You’ve probably 

seen all the skincare geared toward 

collagen production, but often what they 

don’t tell you, is that the collagen protein 

is too large to be absorbed through 

skin alone. This is where ingesting pure 

collagen can truly improve how well 

you absorb and produce this amazing 

protein. With benefits that go beyond 

just skin that bounces back. Improved 

digestion, better hydration, and less 

joint and muscle pain have all given 

major credits to collagen supplements. 

The best part? These products come in 

a wide variety – from powders to coffee 

creamers, there’s a product out there that 

will work for you and benefit your body 

inside and out! I personally like Vital 

Proteins Collagen, but you can do your 

research and find one that works for you. 

We all want to find that “fountain 

of youth,” and it isn’t too late to start 

looking after our bodies in a way that 

really counts! Collagen is a great way 

to slow the aging process. 

Monique deGroot is the Owner of Murrieta 

Day Spa which is located at 41885 

Ivy St. in Murrieta. 

Temecula Valley Hospital Designated an Aetna Institute 

of Quality® Cardiac Care Facility for Cardiac Medical 

Intervention and Cardiac Rhythm Programs 

Temecula Valley Hospital has been 

designated an Aetna Institute of Quality® 

Cardiac Care Facility for comprehensive 

heart and vascular treatment-including 

Cardiac Medical Intervention 

and Cardiac Rhythm programs. 

Aetna makes information about the 

quality and cost of health care services 

available to its members to help them 

make informed decisions about their 

health care needs. In line with this goal, 

Aetna recognizes hospitals and facilities 

in its network that offer specialized 

clinical services for certain health 

conditions. Facilities are selected for 

consistently delivering evidence-based, 

safe care. 

“We are thrilled with this wonderful 

achievement,” said Darlene Wetton, 

Chief Executive Officer of Temecula 

Valley Hospital. “With our recent expansion, 

TVH will now offer additional 

services to our patients needing cardiac 

care. Two new cardiac catheterization 

labs have been added. One is designed 

specifically as an Electrophysiology Lab 

for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias, 

including atrial fibrillation and the 

placement of cardiac devices, such as 

pacemakers and implantable cardiac 

defibrillators. We want our community 

to know that we are committed to patient 

safety and exceptional quality for 

cardiac care and in everything we do at 

Temecula Valley Hospital.” 

About Temecula Valley Hospital - Temecula 

Valley Hospital brings advanced 

technology, innovative programs, patient 

centered and family sensitive care 

to area residents. The hospital features 

140 private patient rooms; emergency 

care featuring ER Reserve; advanced 

cardiac and stroke care; orthopedics; 

and general and surgical specialties. 

TVH is nationally recognized for Patient 

Safety by The Leapfrog Group, 

with a 2017 Top Hospital Award and 

4 consecutive “A” Grades for Patient 

Safety in Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 

2017 and Fall 2016. The hospital also 

recently received a 4 Star Medicare 

Hospital Compare Rating and the honor 

of the Inland Empire’s Top Workplaces 

2017. For more information, visit www. 

temeculavalleyhospital.com 

UHS of Delaware, Inc. Confidentiality 

Notice - This e-mail message, including 

any attachments, is for the sole use of the 

intended recipient(s) and may contain 

confidential and privileged information. 

Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure 

or distribution of this information 

is prohibited, and may be punishable 

by law. If this was sent to you in error, 

please notify the sender by reply e-mail 

and destroy all copies of the original 

message.




23 

Remaining Emotionally Fit in Everyday Chaos 

by Dr. Candace Walters 

Albert Einstein said, “Life is like 

riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, 

you must keep moving.” 

As women we mentally function 

from many different levels—wearing a 

different pair of “shoes” on each step, 

juggling family, work, bills, or even 

our own health. Granted, we attempt 

to keep our emotions leveled, but it 

can be an inevitable defeat. Balance is 

what we’re told we must procure for 

wellness; however, a balanced life is 

not a one-size-fits-all. Discovering a 

stable mental place, where happiness 

can flourish, while accepting despondency, 

is the actual key. 

Often, women are taught to find 

optimism while placing our adverse 

emotions to the back. Yet, there are 

times when pessimism is valid, even 

welcomed. Suppressing our true emotions 

to move onto the next task is 

seldom favorable, emotionally, or 

otherwise. And with life’s challenges, 

finding total peace can be an emotional 

struggle that is partial to no one or state 

of mind. 

However, a positive, emotional 

state is not only healthy, but it is also 

empowering, and it allows us to see the 

end of a journey even in the darkest 

of moments. Sometimes we develop 

conflicting feelings, but acknowledging 

our emotional state is an important part 

of self-care. There are several steps you 

can take to help balance your emotional 

state for an improved life. 

1. Allow yourself to feel and express 

your emotions, rationally; don’t 

dismiss your mental state. In fact, 

it’s okay to be angry, providing 

a rational approach is used when 

dissolving the issue. 

2. Ask for assistance, talk to someone 

you trust, or seek professional help 

on how to deal with your emotions. 

3. Dedicate time to yourself to reflect 

on your emotions, weekly. Take an 

Emotional Inventory. Before you 

start working on your emotional 

skills, try to measure your current 

emotional balance. 

4. Identify your Emotional strengths 

and weaknesses. Jealously and anger 

can be uncomfortable emotions, 

but they are still real factors in the 

realm of life. Agreeing to discuss 

your feelings and their related reasons 

will help suppress the negativity, 

and you’ll gain an understanding 

of the balance your own emotions 

can create within yourself. 

5. Each day, adopt quality and quiet 

time for yourself. Women who fail 

to take time to recharge their physical 

and emotional batteries often 

experience overwhelming stress and 

depleted wellness. 

Learning different techniques will 

assist you on the journey to acquiring 

emotional balance. If you, or someone 

you know, are having difficulty balancing 

emotionally, contact The Walters 

Group for a 60-minute complimentary 

consultation. You’ll be glad you did. 

Dr. Candace is CEO for The Walters 

Group. Dr. Candace often affirms 

“Not every woman requires therapy, 

most of us just need an accountability 

partner”. Contact number is 951- 

541-4986. 

“ 

Balance is what we’re told we must 

procure for wellness; however, a 

balanced life is not a one-size-fitsall. 

Discovering a stable mental place, 

where happiness can flourish, while 

accepting despondency, is the 

actual key.




EXECUTIVE PROFILE | Darlene Wetton 

Growing up in the local mountains 

of Lake Arrowhead provided me 

with a wonderful appreciation of 

community engagement. When 

you live in a small community, your 

extended family is your church, 

school, firehouse and hospital. 

Although much larger, the City of 

Temecula has this same sense of 

community. When my husband 

and I moved here in 2012, we were 

so impressed with the kindness 

and generosity of everyone we met. 

Before moving to this beautiful 

region, we were warned that it can 

get ‘warm’ in the summers. No one 

mentioned that the temperature 

would reach over 110 in October 

that first year! 

It was very important for me to integrate 

closely into this community before 

opening the new hospital. I needed to 

understand the quality of life, health 

patterns, overall demographics and physician 

resources. I was so impressed with 

the level of community engagement and 

strong support for volunteerism. A year 

before the hospital opened, a Community 

Advisory Group was formed to listen and 

learn about the health care needs of this 

region. This important group of community 

leaders and physicians volunteered 

their time to establish the foundation of 

the new hospital. Just prior to the hospital 

opening, they transitioned into the first 

Board of Governors for Temecula Valley 

Hospital. I will always be indebted to 

their sound knowledge and advice. 

Affiliations 

I chair the 2015 Executive Leadership 

Team for the American Heart and Stroke 

Association in South Riverside County. 

We really raised the bar at this year’s Heart 

and Stroke Walk held on May 8th at Lake 

Skinner. Over 3,000 walkers participated 

and more connect: than $150,000 ghassler@atwork.com was raised to build 

healthier lives free of cardiovascular disease 

and stroke. 

I am an advocate for higher education and 

serve on the Advisory Board for the Dean of 

Health and Humanities at California State 

University, San Marcos. CSU San Marcos 

has a satellite campus and outreach 

activities that promote transition of local 

high school graduates in our region into 

the University system. 

In addition, I am a Board Member of the 

Boys and Girls Club of Southwest Riverside 

County whose mission is to inspire 

and enable all youth to realize the full 

potential as productive, responsible and 

caring citizens. 

Business Philosophies 

Providing a clearly defined framework 

and developing an intentional culture that 

promotes the values of the organization 

are paramount to business success. Our 

framework is focuesed on the delivery of 

patient centered, family sensitive care to 

the community that we serve. Our most 

important value is compassion and this 

drives the culture of the hospital. 

My priority as the leader of the organization 

is to drive rapid quality improvement and 

provide for patient safety. This is 

accomplished by choosing, developing 

and aligning a leadership 

team capable of transformational 

tasks, and holding this team accountable 

for exceptional performance. 

Favorite Sport 

I love any sports involving water, 

although my kids will tell you that 

this is limited to sports where I don’t 

get my hair wet. I enjoy house boating, 

waterskiing and have recently 

taken up stand-up paddle boarding. 

I’m the proud owner of my own 

pink stand up paddleboard now. 

Goals 

To continue to follow the Lord’s path for my 

life and to enjoy as much time as I possibly 

can with my beautiful husband, children 

and grandchildren. 

Mentors 

My parents have been wonderful mentors 

for me my entire life. Their passion for 

adventure, love for one another, and focus 

on faith has served as guiding principles. 

Throughout the many challenges in their 

lives, they have shared through example 

that life is not waiting for the storm to pass. 

It’s about learning to dance in the rain. 

Favorite Reading 

I enjoy legal intrigue by John Grisham, 

heart-wrenching love stories by Nicholas 

Sparks and Southern fiction by Pat Conroy. 

“Prince of Tides” by Pat Conroy is a great 

summer read. 

Resume 

I attained a Bachelor’s degree in nursing 

from Cal State Dominguez Hills and 

enjoyed working as a Registered Nurse 

in the specialty field of Oncology. I went 

back to school while raising my family 

and attained my MBA from Webster 

University where I was recognized as 

valedictorian in my graduating class. 

I progressed through my health care 

career to executive level positions including 

Chief Nursing Officer and Chief 

Operating Officer. I now serve as the 

Chief Executive Officer for Temecula 

Valley Hospital. 

Birthplace 

I’m a native Californian and was born at 

Hemet hospital.


Finished Industrial Land Equals More 

Local Jobs 

by Charley Black 

Since I arrived in the late 1980’s, 

every local City has stated that one of 

their key goals is to create more and 

higher quality local jobs. For decades, 

too many of our local residents have 

been forced to venture out in the predawn 

hours to fight the traffic up and 

down the I-15 as they head to their 

higher paying jobs in San Diego, Orange 

and LA Counties. Our residents are then 

rewarded by an even longer return evening 

commute which brings them home 

late for dinner, only to have to repeat 

the same routine the next morning. The 

stress that these long commutes put on 

families, roads and overall quality of 

life are well documented, but won’t be 

addressed here. 

For 30 years this same cycle as 

continued with little improvement. The 

lack of balance between the thriving 

population vs. a scarcity of quality local 

jobs remains one of the most concerning 

issues facing every local City. 

In recent years, new industrial 

businesses have arrived, and existing 

businesses HAVE expanded locally. But 

the source for this growth – plentiful vacant 

buildings resulting from the Great 

Recession – has dried up. Today, there 

are no more empty buildings available 

for these job producers. The area’s 

industrial vacancy rate is under 2%. 

Few speculative buildings are under 

construction or in the planning stages. 

If business is going to move or expand 

in SW Riverside County, industrial 

businesses are going to have to buy land 

and build their facility from the ground 

up. The solution seems simple: these 

new and growing businesses simply 

need to buy a finished “shovel ready” 

lot, build their facility and hire from the 

local job pool. The logical result of this 

process would meet every city’s goal of 

reducing the resident / commuter ratio 

which leads to a stronger and thriving 

community. The process as described 

seems reasonable and attainable, right? 

Unfortunately, the above process only 

works if a company is able to locate and 

purchase “finished, shovel ready” lots. 

Herein lies the problem: If a hypothetical 

100,000 sq. ft medical manufacturer 

is interested in purchasing a 

5 to 10 acre finished parcel and wants 

to build their own facility within the 

cities of Temecula, Murrieta, Wildomar, 

Lake Elsinore, Menifee or surrounding 

county areas, – there are ZERO sites 

available. There are only 3 locations 

that even HAVE finished land in excess 

of 5 acres. But for reasons that would 

take on a whole other article, these rare 

parcels are not for sale. 

One would think “there’s plenty of 

vacant land in the area…you just need 

to grade it, bring in the utilities, pave a 

few streets and you’re in business”. Not 

so fast - those days are over! 

Today, the process to convert raw 

land to finished parcels is incredibly 

difficult, requiring seemingly unlimited 

amounts of money, time, expertise, and 

patience. And did I mention it takes a 

lot of time money?!? 



One of my clients who is an experienced, 

established developer recently 

had to work through the following agencies 

and jurisdictions in his attempt to 

transform 5 raw acres into a buildable 

parcel: 

FEMA, Army Corps of Engineers, 

CA Dept. of Fish and Game, Riverside 

County Flood Control, Pechanga Indian 

Tribe, County Habitat Conservation, 

with honorable mentions to city planning, 

engineering, So Cal Edison and the 

local water district, among others. One 

of my favorites: he had to collect on site 

water to test if there were endangered 

fairy shrimp! I’m not making this up! 

This process took years and his costs 

were astronomical. 

What used to be a seemingly 

straightforward process (creating finished 

lots) has now evolved into a 

long and expensive process. Business 

owners don’t have the time or expertise 

to tackle this difficult task. Similarly, 

individual land owners don’t have the 

resources to complete the process. Only 

a handful of large developers have the 

resources necessary to reach the finish 

line (and these large developers aren’t 

lining up to build in SW Riverside Co). 

The solution to solving the finished land 

shortage is complex. The solution will 

require the cooperation, communication 

and participation of the local cities, 

county, utility providers, state and federal 

agencies – many of which are listed 

above. In my client’s words: “There 

are absolutely too many agencies and 

layers to overcome. My request to the 

City is: give me a concise and consistent 

path on which to proceed. Provide 

us with milestones. Provide a point of 

contact for resolution if the milestones 

are not achieved. Time is as important 

as dollars”. He’s not looking to bend 

the rules, he simply needs to know what 

the rules are! 

In the end, it is the individual CITY 

who is the largest stakeholder in this 

quest to provide quality jobs for its citizens. 

Don’t misunderstand my point: 

the CITY is not necessarily the problem 

(well sometimes, yes!). Most of the 

agencies listed aren’t under the City’s 

control. But it’s our local cities (with 

the assistance of private land owners and 

the development community) who have 

the resources, contacts and influence to 

reach and communicate with the utilities, 

county, state and federal agencies. 

If the City doesn’t take the lead in this 

issue, who else is going to? 

Charley Black is a Senior Vice 

President and co-founder of Temecula 

Valley’s Lee & Associates Commercial 

Real Estate office, specializing in 

industrial, land and investment properties 

since 1988. Lee & Associates 

is a full-service commercial brokerage 

offering industrial, office, retail, land 

and investment expertise. 

25




2017-2018 Murrieta/Wildomar Award Honorees 


Chairman’s Choice.............................. Derric Gonzalez 

Ambassador of the Year..................... Cindy Warren 

Fire Fighter of the Year...................... Engineer Travis Anderson 

Police Officer of the Year................... Corporal Enrique Romero 

Visionary............................................. Tammy Wilson 

Chamber Member of the Year.......... April Vidal 

Entrepreneur of the Year................... Sandy Word 

Small Business of the Year ................ Inland Wharf Brewing Co. 

Medium Business of the Year ........... South Pacific Financial 

Large Business of the Year................. Dunkin Donuts 

Non-Profit of the Year ....................... Michelle’s Place Breast Cancer 

Resource Center 

Wildomar Volunteer of the Year ...... Erin Hartley 

Murrieta Volunteer of the Year ........ Tracy Bouvet 

Wildomar Citizen of the Year........... Amy Pitotti 

Murrieta Citizen of the Year............. Wes Schaeffer 

Thank you to our Sponsors: 

Title Sponsor - City of Murrieta 

Diamond Sponsors: Abbott | Kaiser Permanente | Loma Linda University 

Medical Center- Murrieta | Murrieta Spectrum | Pechanga Resort & Casino 

| Southwest Healthcare System | Waste Management 

Gold Sponsors: Riverside County Third District Supervisor| Alta Pacific 

Bank Altura Credit Union |California State University San Marcos | 

Eastern Municipal Water District | Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District 

|GOScH Ford Temecula | Hitzeman & Evenson, APC | JD Promotions 

| Lake Elsinore Storm | Pacific Premier Bank | Southern California Gas 

Company |Southwest Riverside County Association of Realtors | Starway 

Productions | Stromsoe Insurance Agency 

Thank You, Kip Cothran KC Photography 

“Successful people do what unsuccessful 

people are not willing to do. Don’t wish it 

were easier; wish you were better.” 

~ Jim Rohn 

Temecula Sunrise Rotary 


But he has made his mark during 

the year since he joined, and was 

happy to be named the club’s new 

president. 

John is a Southern California native, 

having spent his life in LA, San 

Luis Obispo, San Diego and now Temecula. 

After leaving his home town 

of Rancho Palos Verdes for college in 

San Luis Obispo, John graduated from 

Cal Poly with a bachelor’s degree in 

Biochemistry. He then moved to San 

Diego where he began his 20+ year career 

in pharmaceutical manufacturing. 

John is currently the Manufacturing 

Manager for Kinnovate Life Sciences 

in Oceanside. 

John and India, his wife of 16 

years, have two lovely daughters, 

Amelia (13) and Clara (10). John is 

first and foremost a family man. He 

loves nothing more than spending 

time with his girls and taking them 

on adventures, our National Parks 

being a family favorite destination. 

He strongly believes in “Service above 

Self” and instilling that value in his 

children. John and his daughters did 

hands-on volunteer work with Feeding 

America San Diego, until they moved 

to Temecula in 2015. 

While John was searching for a 

new way to volunteer in his new town, 

he discovered the Temecula Sunrise 

Rotary Club. Soon after joining, he 

began taking his daughters with him to 

clean bus benches on Saturday mornings 

and even had the whole family 

volunteer at the annual Christmas Dinner 

in Old Town. Both of these events 

are projects of Temecula Sunrise. 

Rotary club presidents often 

choose a new project for their clubs 

that are close to their hearts. As club 

president, John is very excited to 

partner with the Boys & Girls Club 

to bring the FIRST Lego League to 

Temecula Valley. John has been a 

league volunteer and coach for his 

daughter’s teams, Team Sparks and 

The Robo Pandas, for the last five 

years. He wants to expand the world 

of engineering, robotics and computer 

programming to children from all 

walks of life in the Temecula Valley 

and encourage them to dream big. 

Joining John on the Temecula 

Sunrise Rotary Board of Directors this 

year are President-Elect Bob Davies, 

Immediate Past President Mark Sitar, 

Secretary Jean Weinfurter, Treasurer 

Tim Freese, Membership Director 

Jessica Christopher, Rotary Foundation 

Director Johnny Roberts, Public 

Relations Director Myra Allen, and 

Executive Secretary Marti Treckman. 

For more information about Temecula 

Sunrise Rotary and its work in 

the community, please call 951-698- 

6116. The Club meets every Tuesday 

at 7:30 am at Journey’s End at 

Pechanga, the golf course restaurant.


A ‘Wobbly’ Housing Market 

REAL ESTATE 

by by 

Gene Steve Wunderlich Fillingim 

Last month I talked about the apparent 

correction our housing market 

appears to have entered. Within days 

headlines from MSNBC and others 

were howling about the impending 

housing ‘CRASH’. So the question 

these days is ‘Are we headed for a 

crash, or just a correction?’ At the risk 

of disagreeing with MSNBC (when 

was the last time I agreed with MSN- 

BC?), I’m sticking with ‘correction’, 

and here’s a few reasons why. 

• While this housing recovery 

has been slow in many areas, including 

ours, we have technically been in 

that recovery phase for about 9 years. 

That’s a pretty good run as recoveries 

go and while there are few indicators 

of a pending crash, a little attitude 

adjustment may be in order. 

• Locally sales are off 9% 

year-to-date (7,008 / 6,372) but prices 

are still up 7% ($344,726/ $371,788). 

That’s not a crash. A crash is when 

sales drop by half like they did in 2007 

and prices dive by 45% or more, like 

they did in 2009. 

• The underlying fundamentals 

of our economy appear strong 

with record high employment, rising 

wages, GDP and consumer confidence 



up, taxes down (except in CA) and other 

leading indicators. Most reputable 

prognosticators are not seeing a market 

adjustment of any significance on the 

horizon, although most are anticipating 

some correction within the next 18 – 24 

months. We might be getting ours a bit 

earlier than the rest of the country. 

So, what’s behind the slowdown? 

Most would point to interest rate increases, 

rising prices and the fact that 

wages have not increased at a rate commensurate 

with these other increases. 

While the Fed didn’t raise rates last 

month, they indicated that there may 

be 2 more increases this year. Mortgage 

interest rates are already up nearly ½% 

this year and, while still low by historic 

standards, when juxtaposed with rising 

prices it impacts buying power. As a 

result, mortgage applications dropped 

to a four-year low in July. 

Where we are today has the government 

removing itself from the policy of 

keeping interest rates artificially low, as 

they did for much of the past decade. 

While low rates did have a stimulative 

effect on the market, they also allowed 

prices to appreciate at a rate faster than 

practicable. While our local market may 

not have fully recovered to its pre-crash 

price level, many areas of the state met 

or exceeded their previous high – notably 

those already inflated areas like the 

Bay Area, Silicon Valley, and areas of 

the OC and San Diego. 

A house that might sell for $500,000 

today, would likely have commanded 

closer to $400,000 had interest rates 

been allowed to respond to the market. 

That does two things – first, many current 

homeowners either bought at an 

attractive rate or refi’d down to a great 

rate. I reduced my personal mortgage 

by over $700 a month and I wager most 

of you took advantage of similar rate 

reductions. But with a







29 

Thornton winery jazz concerts 

jazzconcerts.com • thorntonwine.com 

(951) 699-0099 

Saturday, September 8 - 7 p.m. 

Jeffrey Osborne 

GENERAL ADMISSION: $85, GOURMET SUPPER PACKAGE: $160 


Dave Koz & Friends 

Summer Horns Tour 

featuring Gerald Albright, Rick Braun & Richard Elliot 

and introducing Aubrey Logan 

GENERAL ADMISSION: $95, GOURMET SUPPER PACKAGE SOLD OUT 

Sunday, September 16 - 5 p.m. 


Sunday, September 23 - 5 p.m. 

KENNY G 

GENERAL ADMISSION: $95, GOURMET SUPPER PACKAGE: SOLD OUT 


Peter White & Euge Groove 


Sunday, October 7 - 4 p.m. 

Mindi Abair & the Bone Shakers 

Peet Project 


Saturday, October 13 - 7 p.m. 

Boney James 


(951) 699-0099




The Temecula Chamber of Commerce 

Invites the Community to Attend the 

2018 ‘Monte Carlo Extravaganza’ 

September 11th Remembrance at 

Temecula’s Duck Pond 

Please join the City of Temecula 

on the 17th anniversary of September 

11th as we remember and honor those 

we lost. The ceremony will be held at 

the Temecula Duck Pond (located on 

the corner of Rancho California and 

Ynez Roads). 

The program is scheduled to begin 

Tuesday, September 11, 2018 promptly 

at 6:30 pm. City leaders will be on hand 

to recount the events of that day. All 

guests are invited to leave a message 

in our Keepsake Journal and take a 

quiet moment of reflection followed by 

refreshments and light music. 

For more information, please contact 

the Community Services Department at 

(951) 694-6480. 

Join the Temecula Valley Chamber 

of Commerce for the 27th Annual 

Monte Carlo Extravaganza on 

Wednesday, September 19th. This 

year’s theme is Rat Pack and the 

event will be held at the beautiful 

Wilson Creek Winery from 5:30pm 

– 8:30pm. This exciting night is 

sponsored by Pechanga Resort & 

Casino. It will feature Las Vegas 

style gaming, food & drink competition, 

music, prizes and much more! 

The Grand Prize Sponsors 

are Paradise Chevrolet Cadillac, 

Insurance All Stars Agency, Temecula 

Valley Hospital and The Law 

Offices of Rosenstein and Associates. 

Guests can experience the 

High Rollers Club, sponsored by 

Corner Bakery Café and spin the 

prize wheel sponsored by Hamel 

Contracting, Inc. In addition to the 

main floor Las Vegas Style gaming, 

the event will feature a Poker Tournament. 

The winner will receive 

a prize valued at $500! The Poker 

Tournament buy-in is $50 and has 

limited seating, so make your 

reservation early! 

Tickets to attend are $25, 

pre-sale only. All tickets include 

entry to grand prize opportunity 

drawings, $200 in play money for 

casino games, samples of food, 

and entertainment. 

Advertising opportunities 

are available. Advertising at 

the Monte Carlo Extravaganza 

provides exposure for your company 

to many local businesses 

and community members. This 

includes recognition on the Monte 

Carlo website, social media, 

email blasts and announced at the 

event for over 300 people to hear. 

This event is open to the community, 

ages 21 and over. 

For additional information about 

advertising opportunities or 

to obtain tickets, contact the 

Chamber at 951-676-5090 or 

visit http://temecula.org/montecarlo-extravaganza/.




31 

$200M Expansion Moves Forward 


His topic was, “Traffic and the 

I-15 Corridor.” Thomas was representing 

the “Move I-15 Through 

Temecula Valley” regional taskforce, 

a taskforce comprised of representatives 

from the five regional cities of 

Lake Elsinore, Menifee, Murrieta, 

Temecula, and Wildomar; from Pala, 

Pechanga, and county and governmental 

entities, such as CalTrans and 

Camp Pendleton. “Our focus,” said 

Thomas, “is on unity and collaboration 

among all parties, and to work 

towards decision making and implementation 

to ease the problem of 

traffic on the I-15 Corridor.” He was 

invited to speak to the EDC board to 

educate Board members as to what 

is at stake, said EDC Director, Doug 

McAllister. “It’s important that government 

hears from the private sector 

to help them make good decisions.” 

A report on the progress of the 

Temecula Parkway Interchange at 

I-15 noted that construction should 

be completed by the end of this year. 

The $200 million French Valley Interchange 

will likely begin as early as 

2020, the caveat being that funding 

for this phase comes in part from the 

new gas tax implemented by the state 

legislature in 2017. If the ballot measure 

known as Proposition 6 on the 

November 2018 ballot is passed by 

a majority of voters, the gas tax will 

be repealed and the bulk of funding 

for the French Valley Interchange 

dissipates. 

Of note was Thomas’ report 

that from data mining, officials now 

see that most of the traffic that bogs 

down in and around Temecula’s portion 

of the I-15 is actually traffic that 

is heading to or coming from cities 

north of Temecula. Because of cell 

phones and GPS capabilities, data 

mining companies can tell where 

travelers are coming from, where 

they are going and how often each 

car makes that trip for the entire 

length of Interstate 15. 

The plans for the French 

Valley Interchange include 

adding two lanes to northbound 

15, beginning at the Winchester 

road north onramp and a “flyover” 

connector from that point 

to northbound 15 that will keep 

traffic from becoming tangled 

with traffic trying to head north 

to Interstate 215. Phase 3 will be 

the overpass over the freeway 

that will complete the French 

Valley on-and-off ramps and 

add additional lanes to the 15 

in both directions. 

Sticking points described 

by Thomas included the fact 

that CalTrans admitted that 

they do not construct “capacity 

enhancing projects” such 

as adding lanes to ease traffic. 

They explained that the regional 

partners are tasked with doing 

those kinds of developments. 

CalTrans will, however, add 

auxiliary lanes between exits, such 

as truck climbing lanes. These are 

dubbed, “operational improvements.” 

Also, the city of Temecula did 

make a bid for Federal funding 

through a long and complicated 

proposal process where it was competing 

with cities across the States 

for a piece of the pie from a $200 

Billion Federal allocation. Going up 

against behemoths such as Chicago 

and Los Angeles, Temecula held its 

own for two go-rounds before being 

eliminated. Thomas is not discouraged, 

however, and said the city will 

try again next year and the next, if 

necessary. 

Other city projects related to 

improving the traffic on Interstate 

15 include: 

• Western Bypass 

• Diaz Road Widening 

• Overland Drive Extension and 

Bridge 

• Butterfield Stage Road, Phase 3 

• Ynez Road Widening 

• Fiber Optic Communication/ 

Traffic Signal Coordination 

System Upgrade 

The EDC is a membership organization 

comprised of area businesses 

and corporations. “The Economic 

Development Coalition is a place 

for business leaders who want to be 

involved in the Region’s positive 

growth and influence the direction 

in which we are going. Through the 

dedicated efforts of our members, 

our organization addresses our Regions 

unique challenges, and fosters 

the growth and success of our local 

economy,” said McAllister. 

For more information, please contact 

Doug McAllister at the EDC offices, 

951-694-9800, or Pat Thomas at the 

City of Temecula, 951-506-6153. 

Ignorance harbors fear, knowledge 

unleashes acceptance. Be enlightened 

and see the Temecula Valley Players’ 

(TVP) production of In the Heights, 

with conception/music and lyrics by 

Lin-Manuel Miranda and book by Quiara 

Alegria. The setting is a vibrant Latino 

community in New York’s Washington 

Heights, full of hopes and dreams. Deftly 

directed by Shafik Wahhab, this story 

of diversity, acceptance, family values, 

and traditions tears at your core. The 

“get down dancing” choreographed by 

Jacqueline Le Blanc Wahhab, is exhilarating 

and the star of the show. The show 

also features awe inspiring harmonies, 

solos, and vocals brought out by Musical 

Director Samantha Maxwell. The 

Broadway caliber cast will take you on 

a roller coaster of emotions with tears of 

joy, sadness, and plenty of goose bumps. 

Give your senses a treat and see TVP’s 

In the Heights. 

Performance dates: September 6-23, 

2018 at Old Town Temecula Community 

Theater 42051 Main Street, Temecula 

92590. Tickets range from $17-$27 

call 866.653.8696 or go online at www. 

TemeculaTheater.org. 

Temecula Valley Players is a 501 C-3 

non-profit and has been performing quality 

theater productions for the community 

for over 35 years. www.TemeculaValley- 

Players.com. 

TemeculaValleyPlayers.com 

L to R - Edgar Gaspar, Chloe Lovato, Gia Rueda, Robin Kouri, 

Franceska Ondracek

September 18

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