Pacific Progressive

September 19 is Coastal and Inner-Coastal Watershed Clean-Up Day

Saturday, September 19, is the statewide Coastal Cleanup and the 13th Annual Inner Coastal and Watershed Cleanup Day. Many cities, agencies and organizations participate in this yearly event to build awareness of how trash and debris clog our local creeks, beaches, ponds and watersheds.

Local organizers for the event include the Ocean Conservancy and Trails4All.  Trails4All has a list of clean-up activities on the website.  Sign up thru your city or the OC Parks and Recreation department.

Local cities and areas participating in include Aliso Viejo, Anaheim, Black Star Canyon, Brea, Buena Park, Canyon View Park,  Costa Mesa, Dana Paoint, Fullerton, Glenwood/Glenbrook Park,  Huntington Beach, Irvine, Laguna Hill, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Woods, La Habra, Lake Forest, La Palma,Long Beach, Mission Viejo, Newport Beach, O'Neill Regional Park, Orange, Rancho Santa Margarita, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, Santa Ana, Seal Beach, Silverado-Modjeska Canyon, Trabuco Canyon, Westminster, Yorba Linda, Yorba Regional Park.  

Keeping trash and litter out of the water makes the areas more user friendly and saves the lives of animals. Many animals die each year after consuming trash which they think is food. Take a few hours on Saturday, September 19 and help clean up Orange County beaches, creeks, parks, and canyons.

Beth Krom: Setting the Healthcare Record Straight

This op-ed by Beth Krom, candidate for California's 48th Congressional district seat, appeared in the Laguna Beach Independent. Here is an excerpt:

Those in Congress who oppose healthcare reform are focused on the wrong patient.  They want to keep the insurance industry healthy at the expense of the long-term healthcare interests of the American people.  They want to preserve a marketplace that benefits the bottom line of pharmaceutical companies, even it if means that millions of Americans cannot afford the medicines they need to live.

More here.

Innovative Waste Diversion Projects Funded

Landfills can only hold so much and that is all the landfill does - hold the garbage.  Many types of "garbage" can actually be reused or recycled.  Over $2.5 million for waste diversion programs to create composting, recycling and other opportunities to avoid putting more garbage in the landfill were funded through a recent grant from the Orange County Board of Supervisors.

City of San Clemente - Commercial Food Waste Diversion Program. Restaurants will Receive Bins and Weekly Collection. $400,000 

Mission Viejo - Commercial Food Waste Diversion Program. Process Organic Materials (Food) in Dehydration System. On-site System will Reduce Carbon Footprint - $400,000 

City of Cypress - Multi-Family Commercial Recycling Program $378,245 

City of Anaheim -  Multi-Family Commercial Recycling Program $234,238 

Laguna Niguel Marine Mess Night Fundraiser

The Laguna Niguel Military Support Foundation will host its 2^nd Annual Mess Night Fundraiser to benefit the City’s adopted Marine Unit – the First Battalion, Fourth Marines.

 

The event will take place on Saturday, September 12^th at Camp Pendleton and proceeds will benefit the battalion and their families. A "Mess Night" is an evening filled with military tradition and interspersed with more than a little light-heartness. If you have never attended a "Mess Night", this is an event not to be missed! 

For details and information on how to purchase tickets, please visit Military Support Committee website at:

http://www.lnmilitarysupport.org/index.aspx?NID=83

Shred It in Laguna Niguel and Save Your Identity

All would-be shredders get ready.  A one day free document shredding even comes to Laguna Niguel.  On Saturday, August 29, join the shred fest at Laguna Niguel City Hall, 27801 La Paz Road, Laguna Niguel, from 8 Am to Noon.

Bring personal documents, old tax records, credit card offers and statements, cancelled checks, billing statements, medical paperwork, paycheck stubs, legal documents and anything else you don't want some one else to have. Please remove all notebooks, folders, binder clips or heavy metal clasps from your documents.  Staples and small paperclips are okay. 

Document shredding is the easiest way to reduce your chances of identity theft thru your garbage.  Some thieves go thru people's garbage to find information they can use to forge ID's. Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes i the United States.

Each family or business is limited to 10 banker-style boxes.  For more information, contact Juana Laur at 949-362-4302. This event is sponsored by the city of Laguna Niguel and Police Services.

El Toro Water District Fast Facts

El Toro Water District (ETWD) 

www.etwd.com

234251 Los Alisos Blvd

Lake Forest, CA 92630

949-837-7050

El Toro Water District serves parts of south Orange County.  The district operates as both a water and sanitation district. The district pumps groundwater and buys water from wholesalers. The average annual budget is $22 million.

Service Area

Parts of Laguna Hills, Laguna Woods, Aliso Viejo, Lake Forest, Mission Viejo

Meetings

• Thursday July 23 - Board Meeting - 7:30 AM
• Thursday August 6 - Community Advisory Committee - 7:30 AM
  
• Tuesday August 25 - Engineering, Finance and Insurance - 7:30 AM
  
• Thursday August 27 - Board Meeting - 7:30 AM
  
• Tuesday September 22 - Engineering, Finance and Insurance - 7:30 AM
• Thursday September 24 - Board Meeting - 7:30 AM
  
• Tuesday October 20 - Engineering, Finance and Insurance - 7:30 AM
  
• Thursday October 22 - Board Meeting - 7:30 AM
  
• Thursday November 5 - Community Advisory Committee - 11:30 AM
  
• Monday November 23 - Engineering, Finance and Insurance - 7:30 AM
  
• Tuesday November 24 - Board Meeting - 7:30AM
  
• Tuesday, December 15 - Engineering, Finance and Insurance - 7:30 AM
  
• Thursday December 17 - Board Meeting - 7:30 AM

Board of Directors

Ted F. Martin, President

M. Scott Goldman, Vice President

John S. Dudley, Treasurer

William H. Kahn

Jerard B. Werner

Facilities Operated

•  6 reservoirs including the covered El Toro Reservoir
• Over 130 miles of water lines and 8 booster stations with 13 pressure zones
  
• 1900 fire hydrants
  
• 10,000 water service connections
  
• Emergency connections with other districts - Los Alisos, Trabuco Canyon, Moulton Niguel, Laguna Beach County, Santa Margarita and Irvine Ranch Water Districts
  
• Operate a wastewater treatment plant
  
• 142 miles of pipelines for sanitation purposes
  

 

Laguna Niguel Revenues & Expenditures Shrink Simultaneously

Laguna Niguel http://www.ci.laguna-niguel.ca.us/  has reduced spending by almost 5% to meet the nearly 5% drop in total revenues.  And, unlike many other cities, expenses for City Council declined slightly.  

Laguna Niguel is predicting an almost 15% drop in property tax revenues.  The areas getting the biggest hit in revenue are development related - engineering fees will drop by almost 63%, planning fees and grading fees are off by over 50% each.

A summary of the proposed FY 09-10 budget follows.

OCTA Transit Cuts

http://www.octa.net

Here's a list of what is being cut by the OCTA during 2009.  This is very, very long (about 20+ pages if you're printing it.)

Summary of OCTA June & September 2009 Service Cuts

(Does not include Night Owl Service discontinuation.)

May 28, 2009

Prepared by Reggie Mundekis, [email protected]

What is Impacted

154 Schools & Colleges 

53 Shopping Centers

27 Medical Facilities

40 Employers & Office Parks

52 Government Facilities

52 Recreation & Other Facilities

32 Transportation Centers & Connectors 

OCTA Cutting Our Chances of Economic Recovery - Pt 3

Once is not enough, apparently not when the OCTA cuts bus service.  Four routes are being cut twice - once in June and again in September.    Here are those routes and the impacts.

Line	Route	Impacts
20	La Habra to Yorba Linda	June Eliminate 6:44PM Eliminate 7:34 PM eastbound September Increase time between trips from 30 to 45 minutes Destinations Impacted:   Downtown Yorba Linda, Yorba Linda Community Center,  Brea Gateway Center, Brea Promenade, Brea Mall, La Habra Marketplace and 2 schools
33	Fullerton to Huntington Beach	June  Increase time between trips from 30 to 35 minutes September  On Sunday, increase time between trips from 60 to 65 minutes Destinations Impacted: 10 schools, Little Saigon, and Huntington State Beach
46	Los Alamitos to Orange	June Eliminate total of 8 trips during morning and afternoon peak periods.  Create a new short turn routing between The Village at Orange and Knott Avenue that terminates at Orange and Knott Avenues.  Increase the time between trips from 20 to 24 minutes during the afternoon. September  On Sunday, cut last eastbound trip. Destinations Impacted: 11 schools, Orange Library, Greyhound Station, Disneyland, Anaheim General Hospital, Western Medical Center  - Anaheim
177	Foothill Ranch to Laguna Hills	June Weekday cuts - Cut 6:38 PM & 7:13 PM northbound  and 5:15 AM  southbound trips. Saturday and Sunday cuts - Increase time between trips from 45 to 60 minutes all day September Saturday and Sunday - Increase time between trips from 60 minutes to 90 minutes all day Destinations Impacted: 1 school, Foothill Ranch Market Place, Foothill Ranch Towne Center, Baker Ranch Plaza, Foothill Corporate Centre, Laguna Hills Mall, Saddleback Hospital.

http://www.octa.net/

Laguna Niguel FY 2009/10 Budget Public Hearing Tuesday, June 2

Laguna Niguel will have a public hearing about the proposed FY 2009/10 city budget on Tuesday, June 2, at 7 PM at the City Council Chambers, 27841 La Paz Road, Laguna Niguel, CA.

As of this writing, the proposed budget is not available on the city website.

Laguna Niguel FY 2008/09 Budget Review

As we get ready for a season of cuts, let's take a look back to a year ago and what we thought would work.

Laguna Niguel has a budget which is pretty typical - 30% Property Tax, almost 20% Sales Tax, but they get over